This is Avi Schiffmann’s Friend campaign in New York’s subway system. Launched in late summer 2025, the $1 million blitz by the 22‑year‑old founder flooded subway cars and stations with over 11,000 minimalist white posters promoting a $129 AI pendant that “never bails on your dinner plans”. New Yorkers vandalized the campaign almost instantly. Graffiti retorts like “AI is not your friend,” “Surveillance tool,” and “Go make real friends” spread throughout stations across all five boroughs. Others tore down the posters or added anxious messages like “Human connection is sacred” and “Stop profiting off loneliness”.
Schiffmann insists that Friend’s ubiquity was as much an art installation as a marketing stunt—echoing Christo’s The Gates and Andy Warhol’s Factory. His references are deliberately highbrow, positioning the campaign as postmodern commentary rather than mere product promotion. But the public didn’t see it that way. Within days, the austere posters—designed with ample white space “so people could socially comment on them”—became canvases for rage.
A subreddit and mirrored website cataloged these defacements as digital archives of dissent, turning the backlash into participatory art. Despite claims that the outrage was “part of the plan,” the CEO now admits that constant criticism has worn him down, saying he’s “tired of talking to New Yorkers”. Yet, cynically, the viral vandalism accomplished what every startup dreams of: mass visibility and conversation value.
What the F*CK is FRIEND you might ask? Well, Friend is an AI-powered wearable pendant designed by Avi Schiffmann to serve as a digital companion and emotional support buddy for its wearer. The device hangs around the neck, equipped with always-on microphones that listen to the user’s conversations and ambient environment, then communicates insights and responses via push notifications or text through a smartphone app.
Friend stands at the intersection of wearable tech, AI companionship, and social commentary, generating significant debate over privacy, social impact, and the limits of artificial friendship. The AI pendant has been derided as dystopian surveillance capitalism and “an anxious friend in a necklace”.
What do you think?