It's not unusual to do this. Especially when they're trying to get a retailer to carry their items. They'll create fake buzz. Stuff like getting all your friends to go to a store asking "Do you carry X?" soon after you've pitched X to the store is a method that's worked for over a century.
I think this culture of normalizing lying means that more and more humans are just garbage. Because being able to trust someone is telling the truth is just a fundamental part of integrity. Without integrity we have.. well I guess the world we live in.. dangerous, full of trash. Everything is bullshit.
I hope the machines take over soon.
You're right that trust matters - that's why we created rules and systems to encourage honesty. But lying is as old as humanity itself.
Just like the world we grew up in...?
This type of lying-marketing has been around well over a century. There are documented cases of the tactic I described going back a century.
Unlike back then we at least regulate false advertising now. Overall the space is more honest than it historically has been.