our MISCHIEVOUS inner child
IS HAVING AN IDENTITY CRISIS

ICEE was once synonymous with our fondest memories of childhood—not the pollyanna ones, but the memories of brain freeze, of misbehaving, of blowing our allowance on a drink we dumped on our best friend’s head. Our memories of being an adorable menace to society.

But, over time, ICEE forfeited its brand identity to whitelabeling, lopsided collaborations, and (most importantly) a lack of point of view. It’s time to take ICEE’s identity back.

Losing brand identity to ‘collabs’

Collabs turned
to whitelabeling

It’s become rare to find ICEE’s classic red and blue striped cups. Three of our biggest partners - Target, Wawa and AMC - feature clear plastic cups where the ICEE logo is either minimized or absent.

giving away our billboards

ICEE is in the incredible position of having a mini-billboard built into every machine. But lately ICEE seems like its using that billboard to ask, “Is this what kids are into these days?” ICEE lost itself in these collaborations.

So, People
Can’t Find us

As a result, we found that people don’t know where to find ICEE. Many thought it was sold at 7-Eleven (home of the Slurpee). Movie theaters were the most common correct answer, but the average American sees a movie once a year.

what the world needs now is icee, sweet icee

BRAND TRUTH: ICEE HAS BEEN ABOUT MISCHIEF from day 1

ICEE was born when a soda machine in a Dairy Queen broke down and started partially freezing the Coke. Instead of slapping an “out of order” sign on the machine, the owner served it anyway.

The first ICEE was a mistake served on purpose to customers who bought something else. The first ICEE was refreshingly unexpected mischief. And people loved it.

CULTURAL PROBLEM: obsessive SELF-IMPROVEMENT

ICEE’s biggest competitor isn’t Slurpee, it’s obsessive self-improvement: our belief that every waking moment of our lives should be optimized for self-improvement, even hobbies, even treats.

WE DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT A TREAT IS ANYMORE
How is it that coffee — a drink designed to make us more productive — became a “little treat”? A coffee isn’t a treat for you, a coffee is a treat for your boss. An ICEE is a treat: it serves no other purpose than to make you happy.

ICEE leads the rebellion

against obsessive self-improvement

by creating Refreshingly

unexpected mischief.

Declare war against obsessive self-improvement. (New point of view.)

Reclaim our flag. (Reclaim cups and machines using new POV.)

Tell people where they can join the rebellion. (Make sure they know where to buy ICEE.)

DARE TO CHILL Establishes icee’s new Point of view, rooted in its origins of creating refreshingly unexpected mischief

Dare to Chill encourages folks to choose mischief over the everyday bitterness of work, life, and self-improvement. We focus on an older audience because 18-35 year olds have a sweet tooth that can more than sustain and grow ICEE (Mintel), but we can’t reach them if our machines feature Troll dolls.

MEDIA PLACEMENT: We’ll place Dare to Chill where people need a lot more chill. Places like the The Daily Stoic podcast. (I wrote and mixed this ad. The VO is me, followed by Luke Strother, our copywriter.)

reclaiming our flag: reclaiming icee’s iconic cups and machines

CLASSIC ICEE CUPS 2.0

We’ll phase out the whitelabeled clear plastic cups and bring back the classic striped paper cups, updated with the Dare to Chill art direction and tone.

LIMITED RUNS

Regularly changing cups will give fans a reason to seek out multiple locations and remember where they found each. E.g., “Target has the ‘Chaotic Good’ cups but I haven’t seen what AMC has this month.”

EVERY ICEE MACHINE IS OUR BILLBOARD

We would start out with an exclusive focus on introducing the Dare to Chill tone. In time we could return to collaborations with brands that celebrate mischief and/or opting out of polite society.

telling people where they can join the rebellion:
refreshingly unexpected mischief where icee is sold

SPILLING ICEE ON OUR PARTNERS

We’ll spill* site-specific ICEE ads on the parking lots of our partners. It’s a fun pneumonic device that will get folks thinking about wanting an ICEE before check out.

*Using biodegradable paint.

MISCHIEF IN THE SELF-IMPROVEMENT AISLE

We’ll look for ways to bring Dare to Chill into unexpected places in our partners’ stores, like selling a book in Target that pokes fun at the royalty of obsessive self-improvement: Chip and Joanna Gaines.

The best part of Dare to Chill is that it hinges on assets we own. We’ll use our cups and machines to raise a flag against obsessive self-improvement and for finding joy in mischief, then iterate on that idea to keep fans coming back.

VERY CHILL KPIs