The potato trick. https://www.farmersalmanac.com/parmentier-made-potatoes-popular https://www.farmersalmanac.com/parmentier-made-potatoes-popu... > Still, eve

The potato trick. https://www.farmersalmanac.com/parmentier-made-potatoes-popular https://www.farmersalmanac.com/parmentier-made-potatoes-popu... > Still, even after all of Parmentier’s work, the French feared and hated potatoes. But Parmentier was undeterred. Determined to prove to his people that potatoes were, in fact, good, he started holding publicity stunts that included potatoes. He hosted stylish dinners featuring the maligned tuber, inviting such celebrities as Benjamin Franklin and Antoine Lavoisier. Once, Parmentier made a bouquet of potato flowers to give to the King and Queen of France. > With the publicity stunts failing to popularize potatoes, Parmentier tried a new tactic. King Louis XVI granted him a large plot of land at Sablons in 1781. Parmentier turned this land into a potato patch, then hired heavily armed guards to make a great show of guarding the potatoes. His thinking was that people would notice the guards and assume that potatoes must be valuable. Anything so fiercely guarded had to be worth stealing, right? To that end, Parmentier’s guards were given orders to allow thieves to get away with potatoes. If any enterprising potato bandits offered a bribe in exchange for potatoes, the guards were instructed to take the bribe, no matter how large or small. > Sure enough, before too long, people began stealing Parmentier’s potatoes. I've never known if the myth was true, but I've always wanted to try the trick with something to see if it works.