# Friend pendant subway campaign

> Friend's founder reported a $1M subway campaign; commuters turned its ads into graffiti.

- Owner: Friend; Avi Schiffmann (founder)
- Kind: Campaign
- Sector: Technology
- Seed date: 2025-09-01
- Peak date: 2025-10-03
- Spread Score: 33 (Niche, provisional), v1.2
- Mechanics: Response chain, Shareable output, Controversy, Platform jump, Press loop

## Summary

Friend bought subway placements in August. Photos of defaced ads spread on X, TikTok and Reddit, then became virtual graffiti and a costume. Heineken bought a parody billboard. Ars reported that the ads had not yielded significant sales.

## Timeline

- Aug 2025 — Friend (Open web) — Friend placed pendant ads across New York's five boroughs in August.
- 2025-09-01 — @ParkerOrtolani (X) — Parker Ortolani posted a photograph of a vandalized Friend ad at 18:22 UTC.
- 2025-09-26 — @AviSchiffmann (X) — Schiffmann posted subway campaign photos and claimed it was the largest in NYC history.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/friend-subway-ads

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Friend pendant subway campaign.” Case HIS-00398. Spread Score v1.2: 33/100. Updated 2026-10-13. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-00398