Late 1980s,  Red Bull had a problem. New energy drink, zero awareness, tiny marketing budget. Founder Dietrich Mateschitz needed people to think Red Bull was already popular,  so he did something genius. Hired students,  gave them cases of Red Bull.  Their job? Drink it.  Then throw empty cans in visible trash bins. Near universities,  outside night clubs,  at music festivals.  People walked by.  Saw bins overflowing with Red Bull cans.  Brain made assumption.  "Everyone's drinking this."

The cans weren't from real customers, they were planted.  But it worked.  People asked bartenders for Red Bull.  Everyone's drinking it.  Bartenders stocked it because customers asked.  Customers bought it because bars had it.  Red Bull also hired students to drive branded cars,  give away free cans,  left empties on library tables,  in gym lockers, everywhere young people gathered, created illusion of popularity,  classic bandwagon effect.  "If everyone's drinking it, must be good."

Red Bull looked like overnight sensation.  Today, sells 12 billion cans annually,  worth 38 billion dollars. The lesson?  Fake popularity until it becomes real. People don't want to be first.  They want to join something already popular. One Gorilla Trick. Empty cans in trash. A billion dollar empire.