A Pharmacist Used Reverse Psychology to Get French People Interested in Growing Potatoes
Today, potatoes are incredibly popular in the United States and Europe. But in the beginning of the 18th Century, French people actually believed that potatoes caused leprosy. A French pharmacist named Antoine-Augustin Parmentier was a prisoner in Prussia, where he was forced to eat nothing but potatoes. After this experience, he put himself on a mission to convince other French people that they are actually delicious, nutritious, and leprosy-free. Together with Louis XVI, they planted 100 acres of potato fields outside of Paris. They hired armed guards to watch the fields 24/7 as if these potatoes were extremely valuable. One day, the guards took a “break”, and people immediately snuck onto the fields and began stealing the potatoes. This is actually exactly what they intended, using reverse psychology to trick people into wanting what they couldn’t have. Farmers started growing potatoes in France, and the rest is history.