This reminds me of the recurrent segment Letterman did where he would send Biff around NYC to places with signs saying "the best coffee [or something else] in New York" and have him ask the person behind the counter how they went about determining that.
It's been a trick over the years in film releases of films with mostly or all bad reviews to have a positive review quote from at least someone known for giving good reviews to everything (perhaps for some kind of fee and/or just because they like having their name in print) from usually some very little-known publication.
Of course, David Merrick notoriously ingenious trick of wining and dining people with the same name as famous NY critics of the time, who would then give great reviews to the previously not-that-well-received "Subways Are Sleeping" is a classic. It did get by in one newspaper edition before being pulled.
