Furor Over Anti-Pot Sign Puts TGI Fridays in Hot Water

It’s been a long day for the poor soul(s) who manages the Twitter account of TGI Fridays, America’s favorite celebratory venue for an exercise in self-destructive binge-eating.

It all began when a Twitter user stopped by the TGI Fridays location in Largo, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C.—where somebody, or at least somebody with access to a word processor, printer and roll of tape, doesn’t appreciate the smell of marijuana and posted this sign to the restaurant’s front door.

Let this go down in TGI Fridays history lmao pic.twitter.com/CcC07P8e8E

— Henny Kravitz (@MaggDaddy) December 29, 2016

There it is—if you carry the sweet smell of cannabis terpenes with you as you stroll through life, this is not the family-friendly chain eatery for you.

The sign was apparently posted sometime last week, according to accounts on social media. Within hours, the sign did indeed go down in TGI Friday’s history, as the sign that will live in infamy for at least the rest of the day.

Following the sign’s posting to Twitter at around 9:30 a.m. East Coast time on Thursday, a cavalcade of outrage followed from (we can only presume) cannabis-friendly Twitter users within driving distance of a TGI Fridays. Some vowed a boycott. Others demanded explanation—and still others, presumably, prepared to hotbox the car and head over to the nearest location for some direct-action revenge.

Whether owing to the quantifiable positive impact marijuana has on chain restaurants with ample portions or simply choosing to engage in corporate damage-control, all day long, TGI Friday’s has been in spin mode, telling—by last count—several dozen Twitter users that the sign was not sanctioned and has been removed.

@MaggDaddy The sign posted wasn’t sanctioned by Fridays and we are actively investigating it with the restaurant’s management.

— TGI Fridays (@TGIFridays) December 29, 2016

Most places that serve alcohol—and TGI Fridays most certainly wants to sell you beer—post a sign that reserves the establishment’s right to refuse service to anybody for any reason, so stating outright a refusal to serve anyone stinking of weed should be legal, if not foolhardy. After all, money that smells like marijuana is still money—and it’s hard to suss out the smell of cannabis over the oil and grease from deep-fryers.

HIGH TIMES reached out to TGI Friday’s for comment but have yet to receive a response.

But their overworked social-media manager’s work speaks volumes—and is a very wise move. That TGI Fridays is within quick driving distance of the activists who recently successfully smuggled marijuana into the office of attorney general Jeff Sessions. It may be too late, but if the TGI Fridays in Largo, Maryland, avoids becoming the most pungent TGI Fridays on the planet, they’ll have their social media manager to thank. And reward, possibly with unlimited mozzarella sticks.

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from
http://hightimes.com/news/furor-over-anti-pot-sign-puts-tgi-fridays-in-hot-water/