That was one example. Look at popular music in general. Or popular movies versus good movies.
Look at the example of social researchers creating a line of actors in downtown Las Vegas. The line went to nowhere. But simply by virtue of having several people in it, it seemed popular. So it grew in popularity to become a very long line. That went nowhere. The thing that was popular had no merit because it did not exist.
Or look at Juicero. Very popular with investors to the tune of $120 million.