Background and Product Launch

Friend, a company founded in 2023, introduced a $129 necklace that enables users to interact with a chatbot throughout the day. The device is marketed as a portable “friend” that can listen to conversations and offer feedback.

Advertising Campaign in the Subway

To promote the product, Friend invested heavily in a subway ad campaign that cost more than $1 million. The ads featured images of the pendant and appeared inside subway cars and on station walls, making the device highly visible to commuters throughout New York City.

Public Backlash and Protest

Commuters reacted strongly to the pervasive advertising. Many took photos of graffiti on the ads, while others deliberately avoided looking at the device images. A spontaneous protest emerged, organized through a flyer posted by Schiffmann that invited New Yorkers to “hash this out once and for‑all” and to “bring your markers.” Participants used Sharpies to deface a Friend banner, wrote profanity such as “Fuck AI,” drew a sad‑faced version of the device, and even played basketball while holding a cardboard cut‑out of the pendant.

Video footage from the event showed the crowd chanting “Get real friends,” tearing apart paper cut‑outs of the device, and shouting “Get that shit out of here” and “Fuck AI.” The protest was described by observers as a clear rejection of the ad campaign and the notion that an AI device could replace human friendship.

Founder’s Response

Avi Schiffmann, the founder, later told The Verge that he had no part in planning the protest. He said he flew to New York after receiving photos of the ads and the ensuing gathering. Schiffmann posted that he spoke to the crowd from a “soapbox,” later joined them in a park for a circle discussion, and described the encounter as a “productive conversation” that ended with handshakes.

He also shared an image of a handwritten document in which he promised not to sell Friend.com to big‑tech CEOs for “surveillance purposes.” Schiffmann emphasized that the protest was real but expressed that the interaction was more constructive than a complete disengagement.

Impact and Outlook

The incident highlights the challenges tech companies face when introducing AI‑driven wearables into public spaces, especially when marketing efforts are perceived as intrusive. While the protest underscored public discomfort with AI replacing social connections, Schiffmann’s willingness to engage with critics suggests a potential shift toward more transparent dialogue. The episode serves as a cautionary example for future advertising strategies involving emerging technology.

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