Good News: You Can Ice People With Cans Now
If you were of “legal drinking age” during Obama’s first term, you probably have some fun and/or traumatic memories attached to the concept of “icing.” It was a strange phenomenon in which roving bands of youths would drop to one knee and chug Smirnoff Ice, an overly sweet bottled malt beverage that was considered too effeminate for bros to drink without suffering embarrassment (times were different then). The bottle would be either handed off by a friend, or, ideally, hidden somewhere for discovery at a later point in time. People would sometimes film it. It was a whole thing. I guess you kind of had to be there.
Anyways, Smirnoff Ice will soon be available in cans. Perfect for poolside drinking where glass isn’t allowed or for kicking back with your rowdy friends who have a habit of breaking bottles, these 12-ounce aluminum cans sold in 12 packs are here just in time for summer. Presumably you could shotgun one and revive Icing in a whole new format, if that’s what you’re into.
According to press materials that equate the canning of the malt beverage with the launch of a new consumer tech product, Smirnoff Ice cans are “waterproof” and “compatible with straws.” More importantly, they’re available in four flavors: “Original” (which based on the can seems to have something to do with lemon?), Raspberry, Strawberry, and Margarita. It also sounds like “Red, White, and Berry” will also be a limited-time flavor launch.
The repackaging of Smirnoff Ice comes at a time when interest in beer alternatives like spiked seltzer and (now-divisive) aperol spritzes are trending upward. That’s not to mention the fact that at least one canned, fruity beer is actually pretty good. Presenting a familiar (and maybe feared in some cases) product in a new format just as summer heats up feels like a sensible way to cash in on current trends. Whether or not millennial drinkers will start chugging these things again remains to be seen.
