06/05/2025
Reality is truly what you make it…
A journalist turned his garden shed into London's #1 restaurant on TripAdvisor without ever serving a real meal.
The food photos were literally his bare foot with an egg on it and shaving cream on a painted urinal cake.
I’ve studied more marketing case studies than I can count, but this is definitely one of the craziest.
In April 2017, writer Oobah Butler was living in a garden shed while writing fake TripAdvisor reviews for £10 each.
Then he thought "What if I just fake an entire restaurant?"
So he bought a £10 burner phone and listed his shed as "appointment only" with no real address.
TripAdvisor approved it in 3 weeks.
His starting rank was #18,149 out of all London restaurants (dead last).
So he got friends and family to write reviews from different computers to avoid detection.
The reviews included tiny flaws for authenticity like "offered a blanket with a stain" but still gave 5 stars.
Every review mentioned how impossible it was to get a reservation.
The booking strategy was very clever.
When people called he'd ask bizarre questions like:
1. "Do you know Jackie?"
2. "How many Instagram followers do you have?"
3. "What brings you to The Shed?"
Then he'd tell them they were booked solid for 6 weeks.
The rejection made people desperate to get in.
This created a snowball effect where…
➡️ TV executives started using work emails trying to book tables.
➡️ PR agencies offered to represent him.
➡️ Companies sent free samples to his shed.
➡️ He got 89,000 page views in ONE DAY.
In just 8 months he went from dead last to #1 in all of London.
Then he did something completely insane and actually opened for one night.
He blindfolded 10 guests and led them past garbage bins to his shed.
Then he served them £1 microwaved ready meals while a DJ played restaurant sounds to mask the microwave.
He had actors at other tables pretending to have an amazing time.
The guests actually left satisfied and said they'd come back!
When he revealed everything in December the story got over 100 million views globally.
TripAdvisor claimed they had sophisticated detection systems but they detected absolutely nothing for 8 months.
The business lessons here are worth millions:
💰People want what they can't have and the harder something is to get the more they want it.
💰Social proof creates reality even when that reality is completely fake.
💰Mystery and incomplete information drive way more demand than transparency.
Here's how you can apply these lessons today:
1. Create real scarcity with limited spots or time windows.
2. Make people apply to work with you instead of just letting them buy.
3. Show social proof quickly and consistently.
4. Document everything because the story becomes more valuable than the product.
5. Add strategic friction to increase desire.
I've used these exact principles throughout my career to help businesses generate over $1 billion.
What's the wildest marketing campaign you've seen that actually worked?
