We never thought we would see the day when the drink of choice on 1:55 a.m. beer runs would be one of the many flavors of Smirnoff Ice, but the malted beverage has been flying off the shelf due to it being the main ingredient in a new viral drinking game.
The game tasks its participants to hide bottles of the sugary-sweet beverage around the house for others to find.
Discovering a bottle means you have been “iced” and must immediately drink the entire thing on one knee.
Unfortunately, the game has been catching on around Gainesville and it could not have come at a worse time.
It might be fun to play the prank on someone, and the game is funny in its ironic embrace of the not-so-manly Smirnoff Ice, but the last thing UF needs is another reason to keep cracking down on drinking.
UF already gets enough grief for being a party school, and this game will do nothing to curtail that stigma.
In fact, it could be the thing that pushes UF into the No.1 slot on the list of binge-drinking, party-loving universities across the nation.
Believe it or not, that honor would probably hinder the post-graduation job hunt.
So take a minute and remember to drink responsibly this summer and keep the icing to a minimum. We just hope someone ices our party animal president, Bernie Machen, before the fad dies out.
