The following sentence has never been written in the history of human language: A mistletoe-toting drone flying in a crowded Sheepshead Bay TGI Friday’s restaurant cut a photographer’s face after it careened out of another reporter’s hand. The fact that I had to write this sentence is proof that marketing departments and drone operators need some time apart.
You see, TGI Friday’s, a chain of so-called “restaurants,” figured it would be fun to attach some mistletoe to a drone and fly it over people’s heads. The idea, in a move that is reminiscent of the Birthday Boys’ Freshy’s skit, is that people will tweet that they went into a TGI Friday’s and were forced to kiss by a flying robot.
The Brooklyn Daily took the arguably weak bait and headed down to Sheepshead Bay to a TGI Friday’s that could charitably be compared to a lightly decorated bomb shelter connected to a dumpster. From the article:
“Thank god it didn’t go anywhere under my eye — that is my livelihood.”
The drone operator blamed the reporter for the injury because she failed to grab a whirring, flying quadcopter before it caromed off into someone’s face. Given that either of the models he flew – a smaller model and a 23-inch monster, shown above, that looks hand-built – are intrinsically dangerous I suspect the onus is on him to keep these things grounded. For TGI Friday’s part they ham-handedly allowed the operator to say that “If people get hurt, they’re going to come regardless. People get hurt in airplanes, they still fly.” TGI Friday’s: You’ll Come Back Even If You’re Hurt.
(tc)
