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TGI Fridays' strange advertisement for its new endless appetizer promo may cause a few to lose their appetites. The clip attempts to poke fun at catcalling: Menu items like mozzarella sticks and potato skins are shown walking down the streets of New York City while being barraged by comments from leering men like "Damn!" and "How are you doing?" According to Mashable, the video "isn't meant to be taken seriously." But, replacing women with fried food doesn't make the ad any less uncomfortable, even if it is meant to be a joke.
Mashable writes that the ad — dubbed #AppCalling — was made by Rob Bliss, the person behind the controversial viral catcalling video, "10 hours walking the streets in NYC as a woman." For this parody of his own video, Bliss attempts to make the "objectification" of food the "punch line" in attempt to get people excited about TGI Fridays' new all-you-can-eat appetizer promo. The chain's chief marketing officer Brian Gies notes, "We believe app-calling (not cat-calling) food is a funny premise... Please note that no apps were harmed as a result of this video!"
The chain ran a similar deal last year where diners could chow down on all-you-can-eat appetizers for $10. The only catch was that they had to stick with just one type of app. This year's deal — called Endless Apps now with Endless Choice — lets customers mix and match between appetizer options, so that no-one has to endure eating just mozzarella sticks for 14 hours again. Check out the ad below:
