This cafe uses a ‘smile sensor’ to let people in and these furious reactions didn’t just blow the bloody doors off
Telling someone to smile is notoriously a shortcut to being firmly told where to go. However it seems like a branch of GoodNews didn’t get the memo.
In a video that’s recently gone viral on social media, viewers have been outraged by the cafe’s doors which appear to only open if you flash a big beaming smile. Approach with a sulk, and they remain stubbornly closed.
Unlike X user @TheFigen_ who recently brought the video to wider attention, it seems that not everyone thinks this “should happen all over the world.” (Trigger warning – hard to believe we know but the music makes it about a million times we worse than it already is.)
A cafe has developed a sensor whose door only opens to people who “smile”!
This should happen all over the world. pic.twitter.com/GsEMvGOaM7
— Figen (@TheFigen_) July 18, 2024
As you’d imagine, the idea of combining picking up your morning coffee with forced fun has touched a nerve online. And people didn’t hold back with their disapproval.
new level of ableist bullshit unlocked
the way this door would have absolutely destroyed my soul during the 2 1/2 years my toddler was in cancer treatment
depressed people deserve coffee
grieving people deserve coffee
unhappy people deserve coffee https://t.co/8Tz3q6444B— bonky (@shesbonky) July 21, 2024
They’ve invented yet another way to show their hatred towards Eastern Europeans https://t.co/N1MEmiQSy3
— redhead ophelia ️ (@redhead_ophelia) July 19, 2024
“Let’s get a wee pick-me-up before we head to the funeral. Hey, why aren’t these doors opening??” https://t.co/VcEVhawgId
— Audrey Porne (@AudreyPorne) July 19, 2024
opening a cafe called “the grinds of moria” where to get the door to open you need to “speak friend and enter” https://t.co/8KCGgkdwQQ
— JRR Jokien (@joshcarlosjosh) July 19, 2024
Shut the fuck up https://t.co/UdtTqPYPYf
— Vanessa Guerrero (@nessguerrero) July 18, 2024
guy who’s face is frozen due to nerve damage or parkinsons or a neck tumour or lyme disease or MS or bell’s palsy: “Awesome” https://t.co/RB8XOcSrrZ
— christopher macarthur-boyd – SCARY TIMES ’24 TOUR (@macarthurboyd) July 19, 2024
wasn’t this a doctor who episode there were some killer robots that required you to smile to stay alive or something https://t.co/o2twJCpKfj
— obsidian disorder ️️⚧️☠️ (@deepcutsnine) July 21, 2024
I would never go there.
I hate when people tell me to “smile.” What kind of person believes they have the right to tell a stranger to alter their body language? In reality, I know it’s not a big deal but…it’s a huge pet peeve of mine. Picked-up when I was a child.— Sue Just Trying To Matter in Makeup/Faded Blujeans (@MakeupFaded) July 18, 2024
they will go bankrupt and that’s when i’ll smile
— cami (@oasisraindrops) July 18, 2024
Its a novelty until they realise they do the books at the end of the month and take stock of how many potential sales they lost
— S.R Mcleod (@SRMcleod1) July 19, 2024
As ever with the internet though, perhaps this video shouldn’t be taken at face value. A quick look at the GoodNews Instagram account reveals a twist in the tale.
Despite attracting a lot of (mainly negative attention) in the last few days, the clip was originally shared back in January to coincide with the most depressing day of the year, Blue Monday.
In the full video, we can see that customers are offered a free coffee if they smile at the door. It’s all part of an attempt by GoodNews coffee to cheer people up after all.
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