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In Dutch it is a common expression to say something like "And then of course he has to pee on it a bit". (Hij moet daar nog even een plasje over doen) to indicate exactly this behaviour.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've heard about this before. The person who was telling me about it said that in almost all cases the C-level person they were dealing with would choose the "hairy arm". Had an unintended way of backfiring frequently.
The "hairy arm" in this case isn't an alternate version, it's an obvious error added to the design so that the manager can tell you to remove it. Though I've definitely also heard of people making a deliberately terrible alternate design and having a client pick it.
From the linked article:
"FREASE: Exactly. And it's funny I'm saying this but yeah. You know, it happens. Everybody does it. Like, for example, I worked with - 10 years ago - I worked - we did these logos for a famous musician. And they had a lot of people working for them and a lot of voices. And after working with them for a couple weeks, we realized that they hated the color blue. So if we showed them three logos, we would show the ones we loved. And then, we'd do one that they wanted, but we'd put it in the color blue."
Similarly, always give options, subtly worse than the one you want to see picked. See Dan Ariely's books.
On that occasion the Appointments Committee put forward the names of the
Archbishop of York, the favorite of the church leaders but one who had
ruffled Mrs. Thatcher's feathers on other issues.
To try to encourage his selection, the second candidate was generally
regarded as unqualified. An old line evangelical, who thought the
Bible contained the answer to every question and who was known to speak
in tongues.
The Church leaders thought this candidate, George Carey, was too
bizarre a choice even for Margaret Thatcher. However, the Prime Minister's
anger was such that she decided to teach the Church of England a lesson.
George Carey became the designated Archbishop of Canterbury.Similarly, always give options, subtly worse than the one you want to see picked. See Dan Ariely's books.
Bernard Woolley: What if he demands options? Sir Humphrey Appleby: Well, it's obvious, Bernard. The Foreign Office will happily present him with three options, two of which are, on close inspection, exactly the same. Sir Richard Wharton: Plus a third which is totally unacceptable. Sir Humphrey Appleby: Like bombing Warsaw or invading France. Yes, Minister - A Victory For Democracy
A story from the time recounts that Piero Soderino, the head of the powerful Florentine Republic, even told the famously irascible Michelangelo that David's nose was much too large. Michelangelo then hid some marble dust in his hand, climbed back up his ladder and pretended to do some more "chiseling" on the offending proboscis. While he did so, he let some marble dust fall from his hand. The pompous Soderino was foo…
I'm sure history is sprinkled with many such interesting stories.