That's funny! I had heard of this before, but I misremembered it as a TV company printing a bicycle on the box to deter theft. I sort of wonder if that would work now, come to think of it.
If a TV company put a bicycle on the box, there would be plenty of shipping damage. The only reason the opposite worked is because people naturally assume a TV is far more fragile than a bicycle.
Maybe a bicycle wouldn’t work, but could there be something else that would?
By work, I think they were referring to avoiding thefts, not shipping damage.
Yes, perhaps I wasn't clear but I meant that instead of thefts it will become shipping damage.
TVs and bikes are pretty comparable in value (both range from hundreds to thousands of dollars). Disguise a TV as a desk, though, and you might be onto something.
Good desks are also in the same price range as cheaper TVs.
I bet most porch pirates will have an easier time fencing a tv rather than a desk, and so would be more likely to take a TV box.
On the other hand, fencing a desk would draw less suspicion than fencing a TV.