Ice, Ice, Baby: Your Guide to a Sneaky Phenomenon

Within the course of 48 hours, one DC gal heard about the "icing," saw a dude at a party with a Smirnoff Ice hidden in his shorts (don't ask), saw an unsuspecting friend get iced with said Ice, found a pineapple Smirnoff Ice rolling around in a cab (no joke), and successfully iced her first victim.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qqRoZQw4HA[/youtube]

What the hell is going on?  For those of you who have been living under a rock, or have been only hanging out with your grandma, "to ice" is to surprise a friend with a Smirnoff Ice at which point your friend MUST, to retain any dignity, immediately take a knee and chug the Ice until completion.  The only way to avoid this is to have your own Ice on your person and "block" the original icing.  Then the original icer must chug both Ices.  Sucker.  For a complete list of rules, peep the official "Bros Icing Bros" site.  The moral of this story?  Never leave home without and Ice.  Or maybe a six pack, depending on how long you'll be out of the house.  You're never safe--even cops are icing people!

Recent New York Times coverage, anyone who has a brain, and various bloggers have suggested the possible influence of the Smirnoff company in these shenanigans.  While icing does sound like something a bunch of idiots came up with, it is suspect that the shenanigans only take place with a certain brand and specific product.

If Smirnoff is not behind this, it better thank its lucky stars that it produced a beverage unpalatable enough to inspire fear in all who are forced to chug it.  If Smirnoff is involved, this has got to be the best marketing angle since Apple...existed.

[Billy Gray's NYC coverage]