If you have ridden the New York City subway recently, you have likely noticed stark white ads promoting a wearable AI device named Friend. The company’s CEO, Avi Schiffman, stated that they spent over one million dollars on this campaign. The advertisement buy includes more than 11,000 cards inside subway cars, 1,000 platform posters, and 130 urban panels. Some stations, such as West 4th Street, are completely covered in Friend advertisements. Schiffman called this the world’s first major AI campaign and described it as a huge gamble, adding that he does not have much money left.
The Friend device costs 129 dollars and has been the subject of controversy. Writers from Wired have criticized its constant surveillance, with one article declaring a strong dislike for the product. Similarly, some of the subway ads have been vandalized. People have written messages on the posters calling the device surveillance capitalism and encouraging others to get real friends instead.
Schiffman said he is aware that people in New York may hate AI more than people anywhere else in the country. He explained that he deliberately purchased ads with lots of white space because he expected people would write their social commentary directly on them.