Connecting the Dots / An Agency Blog

If you’ve been seeing a lot of guys on one knee in your online travels as of late, I can assure you it’s not a springtime rush of romance that has a bunch of dudes proposing marriage. Instead, it’s romance of another kind, and it’s been drinking up the internet lately as last weeks meme. I’m talking about brosicingbros.com, the latest craze for bros on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and just about every other digital channel that you can bro down on.

So what the heck is going on? Why are all these “bros” on one knee, hoisting bottles of Smirnoff Ice into their faces. Well, it appears to be a drinking game of sorts. You dupe your fellow bro into some creative scenario, and surprise him with a bottle of Smirnoff Ice, at which point you let him know that he’s been “ICED.” The victim, must then get on one knee, and drink the concoction of vodka in one tip of the bottle. If the guy, I mean bro, who’s being iced happens to to be carrying a Smirnoff Ice in his back pocket (don’t laugh, it happens.) Then the person, I mean bro that instigated the icing, has to drink both bottles. Oh, you’re also supposed to take a photo of the person you just iced too, and upload it to the site, creating a viral sharing aspect to the campaign game.

Sophisticated? Not a bit. Fun? Not really. Total genius? In my opinion, yes. This is pretty much a marketers dream. If only it was legal. Why, you ask, is it a marketers dream? Well, the advertising industry loves to marvel at a perfectly executed campaign, and this one has it –iced. There’s three strategies at work here:

• Know the demographic you’re after: mid-twenties drinkers think pre-mixed, bottled cocktails are not only gross, but feminine

• Understand the desires of the demographic you’re looking to motivate: male drinkers identify with ritual and camaraderie

• Provide an experience and/or venue to collect and build community around these desires: a drinking game, complete with an iconic pose to photograph, and a website that can collect these images under a branded experience.

Ok, so it’s working, but is it advertising? While bros everywhere are engaging in hi-jinx, starting their own fan sites, and drinking a drink they never imagined themselves consuming, a debate went on as to just who is behind this. It took a few days for Smirnoff to come out and officially deny involvement, but I’m still skeptical. There are a few clues that would suggest it’s just some fratboy bros who are really into Smirnoff Ice. A stretch, I know, but brand advocacy at this level is pretty normal. On the other hand, the website looks pretty polished, and Smirnoff Ice seems nicely embedded in the experience. Then there are the laws to deal with when it comes to the presentation of alcohol in advertising, and many of them are being violated at Bros Icing Bros. Which makes me think, unless it’s Smirnoff working in a very devious manner to operate a campaign in top secret, allowing them freedom from any legal ramifications, it seems likely that all this icing is fan driven.

As social media floods our digital channels with branded content that emulates conversational, daily life experiences, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to tell the difference between whatever you want to call brosicingbros.com, and advertising. I also think we’ve moved past the Naomi Klein induced fear of corporate product placement in our everyday lives. No doubt, too, that Guy Debord is rolling in his grave at our shrug of the shoulders and can’t beat em’ so join em attitude about the brand love that’s been going on lately. It appears to me that we’ve not only accepted advertising’s role in culture production, but we’ve begun to have a bit of fun at its expense. I mean, just look at all the shenanigans going down at Bros Icing Bros! Bros (and bro-ettes?) are having a bit of amusement at the expense of others, and Smirnoff gets a little residual revenue out of the deal. It’s win win! Sorry Guy, sorry Naomi, looks like you’ve been ICED.

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