Finding the next ice bucket: Two ways golf can cash in on a new craze

A year ago at this time Americans were joyously dumping buckets of ice water over their heads on video for charity. By the end of the Ice Bucket Challenge, $115 million was raised for the ALS Association.

I believe the videos were successful for a few reasons: there was a childish fun to dumping ice water over your head; there was a “got ya!” element to challenging friends; and there was an opportunity to be creative by staging a cool ice bucket dump.

The ALS Association reaped the benefit of the Ice Bucket Challenge going viral. So what’s the next Ice Bucket Challenge, and who cashes in?

I’m guessing there are marketing people in boardrooms (or bar rooms) right now trying to come up with an idea that can excite even a fraction of the people that the Ice Bucket Challenge did. And this isn’t limited to charitable causes. Any industry would love a free, homegrown boost of excitement or revenue.

So yeah, I’ve been trying to think of how golf might be able to cash in on a new craze.

I know, golf already has great player programs. But I’m not talking about long-term “grow the game” ideas. I’m talking about some crazy idea that could get 20 former fraternity brothers across six states to call in sick tomorrow to get out on the links — even if they haven’t teed it up in 10 years.

So here are two ideas I came up with while smoking ribs on a lazy Sunday afternoon. You might accuse me of smoking more than just ribs, but hear me out…
 

FixTiger.com

Yes, I’m leaning on Tiger’s star power.

The story being widely reported lately is that Tiger kills it on the range, then bogeys his first hole and loses all rhythm from there.
So many golfers can relate. I’m assuming some (not me) have been able to overcome this phenomenon.

So how does Joe Golfer overcome this? Tell Tiger! Go to a website, FixTiger.com (which opens with a 20-second commercial for the Nike Vapor Irons, natch) and upload your video suggestion to Tiger.

It could be any suggestion, from more weight on your front foot to kissing a baby at each hole. But here’s the catch: the tip must include a successful demonstration on a golf course.

For example, someone could be standing on the No. 3 tee, a long par 5. Our everyman golfer says, “Tiger, check this out! I got a Snake Plissken tattoo of a cobra on my stomach. I haven’t missed a fairway since!”

And then he blisters one right down the middle.

The reward is when Tiger breaks through and wins his next major, and he says on live TV, “I just really have to thank Jerry in Terre Haute. He was right… lima beans.”
 

#BeatSpieth

Another idea requiring help from one of the game’s stars.

Take a random Tour event (the more random the better) and declare the Wednesday of that week “National Beat Spieth Day.” Spieth films a commercial challenging the golfing public to tee it up that day and tweet an image of their scorecard with the hashtag #BeatSpieth.

Tee it up from your preferred set of tees. Spieth agrees to give everyone two strokes a side. Play using USGA’s handicap system. Play golf that Wednesday, tweet your scorecard, then watch on Thursday and see if you can beat Spieth.

Perhaps Under Armour could select one of the winning scores and invite that golfer to play with Spieth and fellow Under Armour-sponsored golfers Gary Woodland and Hunter Mahan. It’d be a golfer’s dream.

I use Spieth, but you could fill in just about any cool golfer, and I could see it creating at least a little one-day bump in rounds. Do it when the season is winding down.

So what’s your idea? Tweet at or email me, and we’ll see if we can’t get the next viral craze to require golf balls instead of ice cubes.