[tfigueroa]

I’ve heard something similar as a “Helicopter”.

Can’t find a source, but it was relayed to me as a technique in negotiating a contract for videography. You would put together a contract that includes normal shots and one extraneous, really expensive aerial/helicopter shot. If the client doesn’t notice - cool, you get to do a fun helicopter shot. If they do notice, it can give them something to negotiate away - making them feel accomplished, while you still land a contract with the important shots.

[dctoedt]

> can give them something to negotiate away

That's sometimes referred to as a distractor, or as "Combat Barbie."

https://toedtclassnotes.site44.com/Notes-on-Contract-Draftin...

[pcthrowaway]

That seems very, very similar, but slightly different in my mind (and is also a great one to add to my vocabulary)

In the Queen's Duck, the extra work gets done in a way that's easy to undo, so management can add their value by telling you to remove it. The artist gets more control of the queen animation instead of tweaking the color, shape, etc. because management wants something to do.

In Helicopter, the additional work is just a proof of concept, to ease negotiations. It's not about having control and making work easier down the line, it's about picking a moonshot, and maybe having fun with it, but at least getting the contract under the terms you want because they're probably going to cut the helicopter, which leaves you with the contract you would have agreed to in the first place.

[Doctor_Fegg]

Which reminds me of another favourite, “Free As In Helicopter”: the software is free, but figuring out how to use it is so insanely complex, and has so many dependencies, that a successful completed deployment costs you thousands in $$$/£££/€€€.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2015/01/13/free-army-hel... is the ancestor of the phrase.