Diners at TGI Fridays across the U.K. better be prepared to pucker up this holiday season, as the casual restaurant chain is deploying a fleet of drones strapped with sprigs of mistletoe across its British locations.
In a test run at its Manchester restaurant, servers sent drones flying high above diners’ heads and let them linger between couples in a tacit message for guests to, in British parlance, sneak a snog, reported the Manchester Evening News.
The publicity stunt was launched after a poll revealed that almost half (47 per cent) of Brits have never shared a kiss under the mistletoe.
The mistletoe-drone will roll out at select TGI Fridays across the U.K. this winter. No word on rolling out the cheeky program to other markets.
It’s the latest restaurant to use drone technology to try to drum up publicity for their brand, mostly by playing with the concept of fast food delivery.
Last year, Japanese restaurant chain Yo! Sushi deployed the iTray, a lightweight iPad-controlled device that flew orders through the air and landed table-side for customers to pluck off the tray.
The carbon fiber device could travel at speeds of up to 40 km/hr.
Similarly, pizza chains in the U.K. and Russia also generated publicity by launching pizza delivery drones.
Unlike Domino’s DomiCopter, meanwhile, Russian chain Dodo Pizza claims that the service is more than just a one-time publicity stunt but is actually being used as an alternative delivery method.
The only hitch? Flight paths for each drone delivery have to be carefully planned and pre-approved by authorities.
