TGI Friday’s to Fly Drones with Mistletoe This Christmas Season
Who knew drones were so good at playing Cupid? (Video screenshot by Bonnie Burton/CNET)
Drones have been used to take footage of earthquake damage and erupting volcanoes. Now, they’ll take video of awkward kisses among customers who just want to eat their nachos and burgers in peace.
To get into the holiday spirit, TGI Friday’s UK announced this week that it will be unleashing festive drones equipped with sprigs of mistletoe in the dining areas of their restaurants to encourage customers to smooch.
The mistletoe drones are a first for the United Kingdom, according to the restaurant. They are part of TGI Friday’s “Togethermas” marketing campaign, which was inspired by a “nationwide, company-conducted survey that found only 53 percent of people in the UK had actually ever kissed under the mistletoe at Christmastime,” according to CBCNews.
If drones flying around the room aren’t ominous enough, the idea of them matchmaking kind of gives them an even creepier demeanor. However, it will be TGI Friday’s employees operating the drones via a remote, rather than the drones themselves picking out would-be couples innocently noshing on their appetizers.
“We wanted to see how we could make Christmas get-togethers in our restaurants even more entertaining, and offer guests the encouragement they need to make their move,” TGI Friday’s spokeswoman Rachel Waller told the Manchester Evening News.
The drones have an HD “kiss cam” to give a drone’s-eye view of the action. (Video screenshot by Bonnie Burton/CNET)
“Our mistletoe drones are the perfect way to do this. Not only are they great fun for the entire restaurant, but they help people get a little closer at this time of the year,” Waller added. “Who knows — maybe we’ll have had our first mistletoe drone wedding by this time next year.”
Mistletoe drones spread their holiday cheer in San Francisco last year, but this is the first time they’ll be hovering inside UK restaurants playing Cupid.
No word from TGI Friday’s if it plans on bringing mistletoe drones to the U.S., so for now only British patrons will be peer pressured by robots to french kiss over their french fries.
