Legendary bassist Leland Sklar put a switch on his bass that does nothing. He calls it the "producer switch" — when a producer asks for a different sound, he flips the switch (making sure the producer can see), and carries on. He says this placebo has saved him a lot of grief.
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[–] 212 points 3 weeks ago (13 children)

My mom used to do faux decorative wall painting for rich clients. They would pick a sample and she would paint the walls to match but she found that they often complained after the work was done, even when it was exactly what they wanted.

She ended up getting a spray bottle with water that had a bit of food coloring and called it a “toning layer” that she would spray on the wall. It didn’t change anything but it made the clients think their feedback mattered, she said it almost always worked and they’d be elated afterwards.

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  • [–] 129 points 3 weeks ago (12 children)

    In the same idea, artist will give the clients multiple samples with one being terrible to help them select the better options.

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  • [–] 83 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 child)

    Except sometimes they selected it and thus hilarious examples of modern art and corporate identity were brought to light

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  • [–] 63 points 3 weeks ago (6 children)

    This doesn’t always work. Sometimes clients pick the terrible option. T_T

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  • [–] 29 points 3 weeks ago (5 children)

    That's why you always hide a duck in it

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  • [–] 12 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

    That is how the actual talented people at Apple treated Steve Jobs. He was a fucking moron.

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