Pucker up! Drones to deliver kisses to diners
As well as waiters bringing your wine or turkey to your table this Christmas, drones could be on hand to deliver some kisses in the form of mistletoe.
As part of their "#Togethermas" campaign, restaurant chain T.G.I. Friday's have launched a video online showing a Christmas drone flying around one of its U.K restaurants, carrying a sprig of mistletoe and a fitted 'Kiss Cam' camera, asking for customers to share a quick peck.
T.G.I. Friday's piloted the project at Manchester Royal Exchange's branch and could fly its drones out to other branches in the U.K. in time for Christmas.
The drone idea came from a national survey undertaken by the restaurant chain, whereby they interviewed 2,000 UK adults. The survey discovered that 47 percent of British citizens hadn't kissed under the mistletoe, even though 27 percent said they'd plan on 'giving it a go' this Christmas.
Marketing Manager for TGI Fridays, Rachel Waller said that "Our mistletoe drones are the perfect way to do this... they help people get a little closer at this romantic time of the year. Who knows - maybe we'll have had our first mistletoe drone wedding by this time next year."
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Managing Director at PR agency Rooster, James Brooke said it's "a nice idea, that's well thought through, but it's definitely a PR stunt."
He added that using "technology as a way of bringing people into the Christmas spirit is great", however if he had come up with the idea, James would've thought of the longer-term achievements that the drone could bring to T.G.I. Fridays, for instance "using the drone to deliver presents to the customers".
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The potential uses of unmanned aircraft are rapidly expanding beyond the defense arena they were first built for. Retailers such as Amazon and delivery firms including DHL are already trialling deliveries by drones.
Talking to CNBC's Worldwide Exchange this week, Ben Sheppard, Managing Director at Spider Aerial Filming, said that "there are an infinite amount of uses" when it comes to drone technology, including aerial footage, military purposes and home delivery.
For last Christmas, two artists uploaded a video online of a drone bringing San Francisco's lovers together with mistletoe at Union Square.
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