The Potatoe - Marketing to solve problems

WHAT:
- King Fredrick of Prussia (Germany) 18th Century - King
- wanted to reduce Prussias dependecy on a single food source - bread

- Wanted to Increase the adoption of potatoes by farmers and consumption by the masses

WHY:
-Reduces price volatility by having more than a single food source
- Reduces the likelihood of fmaine as happened in Ireland

HOW:
- Gave them out for free
- tried to force farmers to grow them
- Stories of executions when refused to grow it

PROBLEM:
- People hated them
- They looked ugly and tasted bland
JK: His sheriffs would complian "We can't even get the dogs to eat them"

SOLUTION:
- So decided he'd take an alternative approach - Plan B: The Marketing approach
- Declared it as a Royal Vegetable and none but the royals could consume it
- He set up guards to protect the fields that cultivated it
JK:BUT he told them NOT TO GUARD IT VERY WELL
JK: If there was one thing C18th peasants knew it was this, IF THERE WAS ANYTHING WORTH GUARDING IT WAS WORTH STEALING
- within months the potato fields had been pillaged and an UNDERGROUND POTATOE GROWING MOVEMENT HAD BEGUN

PUNCH LINE:
- WHAT King Fredrick had actually done was - REBRANDED THE POTATOE