Ice-T Gets Ever Cooler in Sonic Campaign That Includes a Face-Melting Live Stunt

After 6,000 years of human civilization, it’s come to this: A finely detailed, life-sized ice sculpture of rapper/actor Ice-T will slowly melt, drip-drip-drip, during a live internet event. When its microphone falls the to floor, it will make winners of some lucky Sonic Drive-In fans.

Goodby Silverstein & Partners came up with the chill stunt, which will stream Tuesday on Facebook at 1 p.m. ET. The sculpture, made by David Fong of Ice Illusions in Santa Clara, Calif., will be holding a real mic, and once it drops, the first 100 users to comment will receive a limited-edition Ice-T T-shirt that changes color when frozen.

The Ice Man cometh, during National Iced-Tea Month, to promote Sonic’s menu of frozen teas, because that’s the way he rolls.

“We want to keep our fans engaged longer than a television commercial can,” Burke Morley, Sonic senior director of brand content, tells us. “We know our target audience is always online, and Facebook Live is a great platform on which to entertain people for hours, let alone minutes.”

Speaking of time, how long might it take for that mic to drop?

“We’ve done several tests and have a rough idea of when the mic will drop—anywhere between 45 minutes to two and a half hours,” says agency art director Kevin Leung. “Our team is actually taking bets on when the mic will drop, with a $10 buy-in.”

Sculpted from four massive blocks of ice, the 6-foot-tall, 600-pound figure will melt down on the agency’s San Francisco rooftop. It should be sunny and near 70 tomorrow in the City by the Bay, so that microphone could be falling fast.

Also, in a performance that recalls his Geico ad from last year, Ice-T gives Sonic’s pitch-dudes a stone-cold stare in the new ad below, which touts a frozen ice-tea/lemonade drink:

CREDITS
Ad Agency: Goodby Silverstein & Partners
Client: Sonic Drive-In
Title of Creative Work: Frozen Ice-T
Live Date: 6/13/17

Client
CEO & President: Cliff Hudson
VP of National Marketing: Lori Abou Habib
Sr. Director of Creative and Brand Content: Burke Morley
Director of Advertising Production: Ashley Daniel
Sr. Manager of Digital Content: David Patt
VP of Public Relations: Christi Woodworth
Manager of Communications: Jason Acock
TV Production: Brooke Watkins

Creative
Co-Chairmen: Jeff Goodby and Rich Silverstein
Chief Creative Officer: Margaret Johnson
Creative Director: Jon Wolanske
Associate Creative Director: Justin Ralph
Copywriter: Jenna Livingston
Art Director: Kevin Leung, Austin O’Connor
Jr. Copywriter: Lucas Coutinho
Jr. Art Director: Charles Lee

Production
Director of Broadcast Production: Tod Puckett
Executive Broadcast Producer: Matthew Winks
Broadcast Producer: Christine Oh
Director of Interactive Production: Margaret Brett-Kerns
Sr. Art & Print Producer: Noah Dasho
Director of Experiential/Music: Todd Porter
Executive Interactive Producer: Danielle Riccardi
Social+ Producer: Kateri McLucas and Alison Plansky
Line Producer: Megan Mulligan and Amanda Steigerwald
Director: Isaak Le
Director of Photography: Mark Sandhoff
Assistant Director: Greg Sumner
Key Grip: Andre Garcia-Cruz

Account Services
Group Account Director: Leslie Barrett
Account Director: Jenna Duboe
Account Director: Kaitlin Giannetti
Account Manager: Samantha Akins
Assistant Account Manager: Sarah Lucia

Brand and Communication Strategy
Group Brand Strategy Director: Bonnie Wan
Sr. Brand Strategist: Melanie Wong
Brand Strategist: Ginny Rider
Group Communication Strategy Director: Dong Kim
Sr. Communication Strategist: Victoria Barbatelli

Business Affairs
Business Affairs Associate Director: Judy Ybarra
Business Affairs Associate Manager: Chrissy Shearer
Business Affairs Associate Manager: Jane Regan

—Outside Vendors
Production Company: Biscuit Filmworks
Director: Clay Weiner
Managing Director: Shawn Lacy
Executive Producer: Holly Vega
Head of Production: Rachel Glaub & Mercedes Allen-Sarria
Producer: Lisa Stockdale

Editorial: Arcade
Editor: Nick Rondeau
Managing Partner: Damian Stevens
Executive Producer: Crissy DeSimone
Sr. Producer: Kirsten Thon-Webb
Jr. Producer: Adam Parker
Assistants: Ryan Andrus & Paulo Miramontes

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