“Now then, what’s all this about bros icing bros?”

Sean never iced a guy. And when he did, Bond made sure he stayed iced. Way to bring your brand’s heritage down.*

Enjoy the bronomenon Bros Icing Bros while it lasted, because even though it got shut down, the site has been shopped by its owners and supposedly sold. Which means Smirnoff either bought to keep it under permanent wraps or they bought to do what brands always do with ambush memes they didn’t create:

Destroy them by adding in all their brand messaging.

So even if it comes back to life, it won’t ever be as good as you remembered it. Cue “Please drink responsibly” boilerplate and endless internet Brorations.**

One comment sums up the situation noting that Diageo should be working with them, not against. Then, the “Please Drink Responsibly” CYA sign-off becomes “Ice Responsibly,” while the owners retain creative control. The brand though says they’re concerned about condoning underage or even binge drinking. As opposed to what’s happening now?

Tell me again how the current use of Drink Responsibly has been working out for the industry.

Smirnoff’s whole push as of late has been away from the vodka your dad drank to the fucking party crowd in shorts and sandals with a 3-day beard working and giant animals romping through your pool. You can’t then turn around and tell that same demo as well as those old enough to drink in college that this is now a concern.

And, if this was a stunt by J. Walter Thompson to incorporate fake plausible deniability on the brand’s part, I’m still gonna call bullshit on that part at least. Yeah it got/is getting buzz for a me-too product category, but it’s weak to keep doing the “We had no idea!” move nowadays.

This meme has morphed into a social media campaign (if it is *real*), and as such, the idea of transparency should be the focus. One of the things many brands are doing now is looking for original content or net sensations to grab buzz from. Why would would you deny this then?

Offer the creators a role as official brand ice spokepeople who create mini events or other video content. Smirnoff looks like they’re ahead of the game and searching for the next big internet (insert whatever sensation). Otherwise, they come off looking bad if they knew all along.

*Obligatory Devil’s advocate opening statement.
**Bro + iteration. See? It’s spreading.