This isn't even the most elaborate market-research stunt I've seen.

Some of you older folk may remember an 80s sitcom called Small Wonder, which was a typical American suburbia family sitcom, except the youngest daughter, Vicki, was a robot. What I found unusual about the show was its copyright message: "©1987 The Small Wonder Joint Venture". In later years I found out that the show was produced in part for market research purposes, to solicit feedback about how Americans might feel about robots in the home -- especially robots that look and behave like humans. It was the 80s and we all thought that was coming Real Soon Now.