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TGI Fridays Already Crashed Its Drone Into Someone's Face

Did anyone think “Mobile Mistletoe” was actually a good idea?
​Screengrab: ​YouTube

​Today in shocking developments: A questionably entertaining and obviously misguided publicity stunt went wrong after a mistletoe-carrying drone ​crashed into the face of a photojournalist at a TGI Fridays this weekend.

TGI Fridays has tried a couple things to bring customers in the door lately—​first offering endless appetizers, and more recently offering "Mobile Mistletoe," in which a drone flies a sprig of mistletoe around its restaurants to perhaps show how the dining experience and general TGI Fridays ambiance can be improved with buzzing quadcopters.

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Anyways, the predictably dangerous stunt ended in a predictably dangerous manner after a very small qua​dcopter ran into a Brooklyn Daily reporter's face, drawing some blood (but causing no serious injuries … you can see the images over at that link).

Here's how it went down, according to Brooklyn Daily:

"Drone operator David Quiones said an accident like this had never happened before, and even blamed our reporter for the bloodshed.

Quiones had encouraged our reporter to let him land the smaller of the two aircraft on her hand, but she flinched when the 10-inch drone touched down—and he said that is what caused the four-bladed flying machine to careen into the face of our photographer nearby. But [the photographer] insisted that the responsibility lies with the man operating the controls."

The drone that was flying around is very, very small, and probably can't cause much real harm (I suppose it could put an eye out?). Flying indoors isn't always a dangerous thing, and I've seen it done safely. But maybe a giant, crowded chain restaurant isn't the best place to demonstrate your flying prowess?