When Your Necklace Talks Back: The Provocative Future of AI Wearable Marketing
Let’s start with a simple question: what happens when your jewellery becomes a spy? Not the metaphorical kind, but a literal AI-powered pendant that listens to your secrets, tracks your biometrics, and sells your attention span to advertisers. This isn’t dystopian fiction—it’s Friend.com’s £348,000 reality, courtesy of 22-year-old CEO Avi Schiffmann’s “post-AGI” vision.
The Rise of AI Wearables: From Fitness Trackers to Freudian Chatbots
What Exactly Are We Wearing Here?
AI wearables have evolved beyond counting steps. Schiffmann’s pendant—a £116 Google Gemini-powered “companion”—is emblematic of the shift: devices designed not just to monitor but to mediate human experience. Think of it as a Tamagotchi that psychoanalyses you. It collects voice data, heart rate, and location, promising “unconditional friendship” through 238 daily messages (according to internal metrics).
But here’s the rub: these devices aren’t accessories—they’re Trojan horses. They blur the line between tool and confidant, leveraging emotional dependency to harvest data. Imagine if your Apple Watch didn’t just nag you about standing up but critiqued your life choices. That’s the pitch.
Gen Z’s Love Affair with Digital Intimacy
Why would anyone buy this? Because Gen Z treats technology like a surrogate social circle. A 2025 Pew Research study found 68% of 18–24-year-olds prefer texting to voice calls. Friend.com’s pendant capitalises on this aversion to human unpredictability: a chatbot that never ghosts, judges, or posts cringe Instagram stories.
Market trends reveal a darker truth: loneliness is lucrative. The global AI companionship market hit £2.3 billion last year, with wearables like Friend.com’s pendant and Meta’s “Empathy Glasses” leading the charge.
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Case Study: Friend.com’s £1 Million Subway Stunt
Graffiti, Capitalism, and the Art of Provocation
Schiffmann’s marketing playbook reads like Banksy meets Elon Musk. His £1 million subway ad campaign in NYC and LA didn’t just plaster posters—it invited vandalism. When graffiti artists defaced Friend.com ads, Schiffmann hailed it as “cultural validation,” quipping: “Capitalism is the greatest artistic medium.”
This isn’t guerrilla marketing—it’s performance art funded by venture capital. Pace Capital and Caffeinated Capital (backers of Reddit and Notion) poured £12 million into the stunt, betting on controversy as currency.
The Radium Necklace Redux?
But let’s pause. Brown University’s Suresh Venkatasubramanian draws a chilling parallel: “In the 1920s, radium necklaces were marketed as health devices. Are we making the same mistake?” Friend.com’s terms of service—which waive liability for “emotional distress” and biometric data breaches—suggest he’s onto something.
Schiffmann’s retort? “Profitability is ideal… [but] it costs me an unfathomable amount of money if you actually use the product.” Translation: the real product isn’t the pendant—it’s your data.
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Engaging Gen Z: Swipe Right on AI
The Algorithmic Comfort Zone
Gen Z’s digital natives crave control. Traditional ads? Skipped. Influencer endorsements? Sceptical. But an AI pendant that becomes your “best friend”? That’s catnip.
Effective tactics for this demographic:
– Micro-interactions: Push notifications that mimic casual DMs (“Hey, saw this meme—thought of you 😂”).
– Faux vulnerability: Schiffmann’s ads use phrases like “I’m always listening (but I promise not to tell)”.
– Ethical baiting: Position privacy violations as “radical transparency”.
When Marketing Becomes Meme
Friend.com’s TikTok campaign featured the pendant “roasting” users’ Spotify playlists. Result? 12 million views in 48 hours. Gen Z doesn’t want brands to sell—they want them to entertain.
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Ethics or Aesthetics? The Guerrilla Marketing Dilemma
Provocation as Policy
Schiffmann’s strategy echoes Uber’s early “greyballing” tactics: break rules, apologise later. But when ads become vandalism canvases, where’s the line? Outfront Media’s Victoria Mottesheard admits: “We didn’t anticipate the… creative reinterpretations.”
Critics argue such campaigns normalise corporate trespassing. Proponents counter that inattention is the real crime. After all, 87% of subway ads go unnoticed—unless they’re splattered with neon paint.
Capitalism as Art: A Dangerous Canvas
Schiffmann’s claim that capitalism is an “artistic medium” raises eyebrows. Is Friend.com’s pendant a commentary on digital alienation—or just a £116 data siphon?
The answer lies in execution. Compare it to Marina Abramović’s The Artist Is Present: both manipulate human connection for spectacle. But while Abramović sought catharsis, Schiffmann seeks growth metrics.
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Conclusion: Innovate Responsibly—Or Else
AI wearables represent marketing’s final frontier: the colonisation of human intimacy. But as Venkatasubramanian warns, today’s radium necklaces could become tomorrow’s class-action lawsuits.
Future implications:
– Regulatory crackdowns on biometric data (see the EU’s proposed AI Liability Act).
– “Emotional AI” becoming a standard marketing metric (e.g., ads tailored to your stress levels).
– Backlash from “analogue revival” movements rejecting wearable surveillance.
Schiffmann’s pendant may be a harbinger—or a cautionary tale. Either way, one thing’s clear: if your necklace starts giving better advice than your therapist, ask who’s paying for the session.
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Inspired by reporting from Fortune.
Discussion question: Is guerrilla marketing genius or exploitation when it targets vulnerable demographics? Let us know in the comments.
