Friend AI pendant runs largest NYC subway OOH campaign ever — but orders from 2024 still unfulfilled
Sep 26, 2025
Key Points
- Friend is running the largest NYC subway out-of-home campaign ever with 11,000 car cards and full five-borough coverage, positioning its AI pendant as a superior roommate while leveraging controversy to drive attention.
- Orders from July 2024 remain unfulfilled even as the company launches aggressive new marketing, creating a credibility gap between its advertising promises and actual product delivery timelines.
- Friend's website obscures core product benefits behind design-focused interaction, leaving new customers acquired through the campaign likely to face long waits and unclear value propositions.
Summary
Friend, an AI companion hardware startup, is running what founder Avi Schiffmann describes as the largest out-of-home advertising campaign in New York City subway history. The campaign spans 11,000 car cards, 1,000 platform posters, 130 urban panels, and reaches 100% coverage across all five boroughs, including heavy saturation at West Fourth Street. Los Angeles billboards are also part of the push. The ads are spare: friend.com, the pendant device, and the tagline "your new roommate is waiting." Subway ads expand with promises like "I'll never bail on our dinner plans" and "I'll never leave dirty dishes in the sink," positioning the AI pendant as a replacement roommate.
The campaign is generating substantial backlash. Some riders have defaced ads with "Stop profiting off of loneliness." Schiffmann appears to be leveraging the controversy itself to drive attention and raise capital for his next funding round, a strategy he has acknowledged in earlier appearances.
The timing creates a credibility problem. Orders placed in July 2024 remain unfulfilled. Schiffmann shipped 400 units in a single week, but customers waiting months for a $129 device are seeing aggressive marketing for new sales before their orders arrive. A Wired review was "abysmal," and there is limited evidence of genuine customer enthusiasm beyond early adopters and controversy seekers.
The product remains early-stage. Friend's website requires extensive scrolling and interaction to explain what the device actually does, a friction point that breaks basic consumer tech practice. Apple's iPhone launch in 2007 led with clear feature benefits and immediate purchase clarity. Friend's site emphasizes motion and design instead. A wave of new customers from the campaign will face long waits and potentially unmet expectations, which undermines the halo effect that OOH campaigns typically deliver for established products.