Angel Shot

Submission 5,209

About

An Angel Shot is a fake alcoholic drink and code word used at bars and clubs to alert the bartender that you are being harassed or are stuck in an uncomfortable or unsafe situation with someone. By ordering an angel shot, a customer can covertly let the bartender know they need help, additionally letting the bartender know who the harasser is by pretending to order the drink for them. The safe word is derived from the UK's 2016 "Ask for Angela" campaign and was popularized in the US by the southern California bar Patrick Molloy's that year. In 2022, TikTokers began spreading the safe word through skits, including comedy skits where people take violent action against harassers when asked for an angel shot.

Origin

Ask for Angela

Around October 2016, the government of Lincolnshire, England rolled out the "#NoMore" campaign. Although the page detailing the campaign has been removed from their website, on October 18th, 2016, Twitter^[1] user @iizzzzzi posted a photograph of a poster in a Lincolnshire, UK bar advertising the campaign. Specifically, the poster details the "Ask for Angela" initiative. The initiative allows bar-goers to use the code word "Angela" to bartenders and members of staff to let them know they need help. Some specific instances when it's appropriate to use the code word are listed on the poster, including a "date that isn't working out," or if you feel like you're not in a safe situation. The post gained over 45,000 likes and 31,000 retweets in six years (shown below). On November 2nd of that year, BBC^[2] reported on the tweet and campaign. That December, BBC^[3] reported that the "Ask for Angela" initiative was being rolled out across the UK.

Angel Shot

On July 22nd, 2017, ABC 7^[4] reported that Patrick Molloy's, a bar in Hermosa Beach, California, started using the word "angel shot" as a code word in the same way as "Angela" in the UK. The term spread to other bars and clubs in North America over the following years. For example, on October 17th, 2018, Twitter^[5] user @MaureenPilk posted a photo of a bar in Fort Lauderdale describing the code word (shown below, left). On June 11th, 2019, CNN^[6] published an article about angel shots. On February 3rd, 2020, Twitter^[7] user @TeriFikowski posted a photo of an angel shot poster at a bar Alberta, Canada (shown below, right).

Additional rules for the angel shot have also been established by some, although do not appear to be universal. For example, if you ask for an angel shot with lime, it means the bartender should call the police. If you ask for an angel shot neat, it means you need the bartender to walk you to your vehicle or out of the bar. If you ask for the drink on the rocks, you need them to call a taxi or car for them.

Spread

On July 20th, 2021, TikToker^[8] @benjispears posted a skit where he plays a bartender who gets asked for an angel shot with lime, meaning the woman wants him to call the police (shown below). The video gained over 11 million views in a year.

Over the following year, TikTokers continued to post skits where people order angel shots in order to spread the word about the safe word. The trend saw a peak in July 2022. On July 10th, 2022, TikToker^[9] @avi.akbar posted a skit where he's asked for an angel shot, then brandishes a baseball bat to go take care of the problem, gaining over 6 million views in a month (shown below, left). On July 20th, TikToker^[10] @crispo.creme posted a similar video, gaining over 9 million views in three weeks (shown below, right).

On July 25th, TikToker^[11] @thescumbagdad posted a comedy video where he's repeatedly asked for an angel shot in various situations, including outside of the bar and responds by shooting the harassers, garnering over 1.9 million views in two weeks (shown below, left). On July 26th, TikToker^[12] @elianaghen posted a video similar to @avi.akbar's, gaining over 16.8 million views in two weeks (shown below, right). On August 7th, Dexerto^[13] reported on the code word.