If you've never been Iced, consider yourself lucky — and guard yourself with this knowledge.
It's more drinking prank than drinking game.
Here's how it works: One person hides a bottle of Smirnoff Ice that they know their target will find. When the unlucky chump does find it, they're required to get down on one knee and chug the entire bottle.
A site called Bros Icing Bros is credited for making it popular.
BrosIcingBros.com doesn't even exist anymore, but when it launched, it served as a hub for videos and photos of people getting Iced. Most of the first Icing sightings happened at frat houses.
The trend exploded in 2010.
No one can pinpoint exactly when Ice-ing someone became a "thing," but if you went to college in the late aughts, you were likely witnessing the beginning of it. Throughout 2010, The New York Times, Time, and other publications wrote about the prank.
There are strict rules.
In a video titled "HOW TO ICE A BRO" posted to YouTube in June 2010, they're laid out.
- If you're a bro, and you find an Ice that's been hidden, you have to point it at the sky, open it, take a knee, and chug it. "If you don't, you can never Ice another bro, and you're pretty much not a bro," the self-proclaimed bro in the video said.
- According to the video, it's bros Icing bros — no hoes. (But by now, the prank has overcome all gender barriers. #2018)
- If a bro has an Ice on him when someone tries to Ice him, the bro who Iced him gets Iced back and has to chug both of the Ices.
- You've got to hide the Ice like it's an Easter egg. You can't just hand an Ice to someone and force them to drink it. A bro has to put in effort before the other bro has to take a knee.
Smirnoff Ice was around for a decade before Ice-ing took off.
The vodka brand introduced Ice in 1999. As the label reads, it's a "malt beverage," meaning it's brewed like a beer and doesn't have any vodka in it.
It was thought to be a "girly drink."
Smirnoff never blatantly admitted their Ice was for women, but many people had the thought. Some people credit "bros" for the drink's popularity today, though.
Smirnoff wasn't involved with the creation of the prank.
So they say — but the brand did have a hand in taking down BrosIcingBros.com. Shortly after Icing took over college campuses, the site was removed, and Smirnoff gave a statement to AdAge. "[Smirnoff Ice parent] Diageo has taken measures to stop this misuse of its Smirnoff Ice brand and marks, and to make it clear that 'Icing' does not comply with our marketing code, and was not created or promoted by Diageo, Smirnoff Ice, or anyone associated with Diageo," brand reps stated.
You can get iced anywhere.
Just recently, every guy's dream girl became Insta-famous for Icing her soon-to-be husband on their wedding day. She had one waiting for him when he turned around during their first look. Look through the #iced hashtag on Instagram and you'll find even more inspo: for the office, the beach, the bedroom.
Follow Delish on Instagram.
