Bros icing bros.

Earlier last week I was driving into work listening to a local morning show talking about the phenomenon of “Bros Icing Bros”.  I sat and listened to what people were doing to one another and was mildly amused at the thought of this.  The rules of the game are as follows: Buy Smirnoff Ice and present it to one of your bros in any manner.  Your bro must instantly get on one knee and chug the Smirnoff Ice on the spot regardless of setting. However, a bro can “ice block.” If a bro is presented with a Smirnoff Ice but came “packin’ with his own ice,” then the initial bro must drink both Smirnoff Ices.   

So after hearing about this story last week I had forgotten about it until I open up today’s edition of Ad Age and one of the stories is about the “Icing” game.  Much of the discussion surrounding this story was the question if Smirnoff was responsible for creating this viral phenomenon.  Smirnoff has stated that they had nothing to do with this, but what a great ride it must have been for them.  All of this PR and added desire to purchase this malt beverage just so you can play a joke on a friend has created quite the buzz.  I think this has been a positive development for the Smirnoff brand.  What do you think?