If you’re an I Think You Should Leave fan, then there’s no way you haven’t watched the the viral drive-thru “pay it forward” sketch that became an instant meme and has been re-posted by many folks on social media.
TikToker Tampa Terrence (@terrenceconcannon) decided to add to the meme legend by attempting to place the same order from the sketch but in a Wendy’s drive-thru. However, he used it on the chain’s AI-assisted ordering bot.
Terrence’s video begins with them pulling into the Wendy’s drive-thru where they attempted to rattle off the viral mega-order into the chain’s AI-assisted ordering system.
“55 burgers 55 fries with AI drive through,” a text overlay in the video reads.
The TikToker rattles off the same order using the exact dialogue by Tim Robinson in his sketch to the computerized system: “55 burgers, 55 fries, 55 tacos, 55 pies, 55 cokes, 100 tater tots, 100 pizzas, 100 taters, 100 meatballs, 100 coffees, 55 wings, 55 shakes, 55 pancakes, 55 pastas, 55 peppers, and 155 taters,” he says.
To the AI’s credit, it does seem to transcribe his order fairly accurately into text. At that point, a human voice jumps onto the loudspeaker to handle his order in what seems like an attempt to handle what the AI couldn’t. They ask if they can take the guy’s order, to which he replies that he’ll “just come in, thanks.”
This isn’t the first time someone recorded their interaction with artificial intelligence in a Wendy’s drive-thru, except in that previous instance, the order was a success.
A Carl’s Jr. customer attempted to place an order for “well done” fries at one of the franchise’s locations but ended up disappointed as the AI system couldn’t seem to understand this modification, but other guests of the chain documented positive experiences with Carl’s Jr.’s artificial intelligence ordering.
@terrenceconcannon I think I broke the AI drive through.. #ai #55burgers55fries #tampa #buzzing ♬ original sound – Tampa Terrence
And if you’ve never seen the “55 burgers, 55 fries” bit, you can check it out on Netflix, or watch the first half of the sketch here—spoiler: His scam attempt doesn’t go over too well.
There are a lot of reasons why the sketch is a success: Of course, there’s Tim Robinson’s commitment to the bit with the specific brand of performative insanity he imbues with many of his characters. Then there’s the heartwarming initial setup of someone trying to “pay it forward” but then only doing that as a means of trying to game the system so he can end up with a ton of free food.
Folks who saw his video seemed tickled pink by his attempt at recreating the scene, minus the whole pay-it-forward scam.
“AI called the manager,” one person joked.
Someone else, who seemed impressed with the system’s capabilities wrote, “Yo the AI was keeping up tho.”
Another tried to be considerate of what the Wendy’s employee must’ve been feeling at the moment.
“Can you imagine hearing this through your headset,” they said.
“IM TRYING TO DO SOMETHING,” someone else said, jumping in on the joke.
“Everyone and their headsets just had a heart attack,” another TikToker remarked, echoing others’ statements.
“AI detected a pay it forward circle,” another person quipped.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Wendy’s via email and Terrence via TikTok comment.
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