no 2: I Don’t Want a ‘Friend’

Article by Avery Lender, Image from here

If you’re a girl like me, subway ads can be the highest form of entertainment. On the train, when I’m trying to be better than everyone by not going on my phone, I’ll read up on the ads to see what’s new. This is how I noticed Friend.

Regardless of how pretentious you like to present on public transport, It would be impossible to miss the new Friend campaign, one of the biggest subway campaigns of all time — 11,000 subway ads in cars and thousands more platform posters, costing over a million dollars. At first, I didn’t think much of it. The posters would either just offer a simple definition of the word ‘friend,’ which is not a bad reminder, or present ominous messaging like “I won’t leave dishes in the sink” or “I’ll ride the train with you.” Eventually, it got to me. I had to look the company up and see what they do. 

A quick google search will inform you that it’s one of the biggest subway campaigns of all time — 11,000 subway ads in cars and thousands more platform posters, costing more than a million dollars. At first, I didn’t think much of these.

Friend is an AI necklace that looks dorky as hell. It’s a white pendant on a string, reminiscent of the lanyard you put your college ID on in freshman year (before you learn how lame that looks). Clearly, the budget went to advertising rather than design. Friend listens and records all the conversations around you, and speaks to you through an app. Based on some reviews I read online, people say that Friend is a bit overbearing, constantly wanting to hear from you and checking in like a Jewish grandma. It’s a bit of rage-bait technology, as only around a thousand ‘Friends’ are out there as of now (and hopefully not one more).

As far as the ad campaign goes, people HATE it. How do I know? Because I have yet to see a Friend poster not completely vandalized. There is not only a website where you can look at a collection of real vandalized ads and which station they are from, but there is even a way to VIRTUALLY vandalize an ad for those too scared to bust out a sharpie. Nothing bands people together better than a common enemy, and what better enemy than the realized product from the movie Her, without the joy of ScarJos' performance?

Avery’s own vandalized friend ad, courtesy of this website

I think there’s something beautiful here. AI has been shoved in everyone’s face, whether they like it or not. Finally, it feels like there is a tangible way to show disinterest.

Personally, I believe AI to be my biggest opp. To this day I make all my grocery lists with my own brain (shocking) and have resisted using Chat even for the most mind-numbing tasks. Soon I hope the pendulum will soon swing the other way, because you know something AI can’t do? Write clever graffiti on a poster in a train station.

The creator of Friend himself said the subway ads were a way to see how people would react to further AI integration. The message that New Yorkers have sent back is clear: we don’t want it.