About

Ice Cold Water Man is a nickname given to a street vendor who was selling "ice cold" bottled water at Otakon 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland. Although the man had been a local celebrity for his catchy tagline "I've got that ice cold water, and it's only one dollar," much of his Internet fame arose during the convention in July 2011.

Origin

During the Otakon 2011 held in downtown Baltimore, Maryland, attendees began blogging about a street vendor dubbed "Ice Cold Water Man," who was selling bottled water with a megaphone. While it's quite common to see street vendors selling water around the city, his unique approach and the memorable tagline "I've got that ice cold water-- and it's only one dollar--" captivated those who were attending the event. Throughout the week, his presence at the Baltimore Convention Center began to grow on the attendees and some uploaded video footage of "Ice Cold Water Man" via YouTube^[1]. There are also YouTube videos of him taken from the previous conventions in 2009 and 2010.

Spread

Over the span of Otakon 2011, Ice Cold Water Man quickly made his way online through YouTube and social networking services, where he became an iconic mascot of the convention. His unique pitch was also turned into a series of remixed songs featuring the tagline "Ice Cold Water, Only for a Dollar" on YouTube^[2] and the official Facebook Page^[3] "That Ice Cold Water Guy" received over 2,700 likes within the first 24 hours of launch. On Tumblr^[4], tag searching "Ice Cold Water" returns pages after pages of posts related to the man.

According to a CheapAssGamer^[5] blog post, the tagline spread virally throughout the crowds at the convention, making the "Ice Cold Water" man high in demand. Some people began playing an alternative version of "Marco Polo" by shouting "Ice Cold Water," to which others responded with "It's only one dollar!"

Notable Images

Notable Remixes

Search Interest

External References

^[1] YouTube – Ice Cold Water Man search term by date / Posted on 8-1-2011

^[2] YouTube – "Response Videos":

^[3] Facebook – That Ice Cold Water Guy

^[4] Tumblr – Tag Search Results for Ice Cold Water / Posted on 8-1-2011

^[5] CheapAssGamer – Ice Cold Water Dude!!