Viking explorer Erik the Red discovered an incredibly bleak, ice-covered island in 982 and cynically named it Greenland simply as a deceptive marketing ploy to attract gullible settlers.

A closer look

Viking explorer Erik the Red discovered an incredibly bleak, ice-covered island in 982 and cynically named it Greenland simply as a deceptive marketing ploy to attract gullible settlers. Nordic colonists would be way more likely to pack up their entire lives and sail across the freezing ocean if the destination sounded like a lush, fertile paradise instead of a frozen, uninhabitable wasteland. Meanwhile, Iceland, which actually features stunning green valleys and geothermal springs, was given a deeply unappealing name just to discourage rival explorers from moving there. This essentially proves that completely fraudulent real estate advertising has existed for over a millennium, and humanity has always been easily manipulated by misleading branding and the false promise of a nice lawn