TGI Friday's 'mistletoe drone' meant to get couples kissing, crashes into woman's face
CBC Radio | Posted: December 8, 2014 5:00 AM | Last Updated: August 30, 2016
What could possibly go wrong? Well, when the restaurant chain TGI Friday's had the bright idea of flying quad-copter drones indoors to spur romance -- it turns out a heck of a lot
On Friday, the media was invited to a New York restaurant to see the drones hover over lucky couples while the robots dangled a piece of mistletoe above their heads. Then, one of the flying machines went rogue.
I've done some crime scene reporting. I survived 9/11. I didn't get a scratch on any of those assignments. This is bizarre to go into a restaurant and come out injured.Brooklyn photographer Georgine Benvenuto was standing nearby when the drone operator tried to land one of the flying machines on another woman's hand. Unfortunately, she flinched, and the drone came right at Benvenuto. She tells Carol, "It hit me in the face, then it got caught in my hair, kept spinning -- and that's how it injured my face. It took a while for me to get it off."
Benvenuto was left with cuts on her nose and chin. The experience certainly didn't put her in the holiday spirit. "I didn't find any romance myself that night."
The Brooklyn Daily says the restaurant chain never really acknowledged what happened. The paper quoted a TGI spokeswoman who, "dismissed concerns about further injuries."
Hear how Georgine Benvenuto survived the 'mistletoe drone' by listening to our interview.