Orange Paying Actors to Stand in Line During the Polish iPhone Launch

Reuters reports that Orange (a European wireless service provider) is padding a lukewarm Polish iPhone reception by paying actors to “line-up” outside 20 stores to “buy” the Apple iPhone. Ah, there’s nothing like alienating your core customers to possibly generate some new ones. Hey, I’ve got an idea, how about you make your current product/service so amazing that you core customers can’t help but recruit new ones for you?

UPDATE 8/28/08: Orange denies it. The outside hires aren’t to stand in line, “Their aim is to welcome people to the Orange shop, share in their excitement and give information about Orange tariffs,” a spokeswoman told Ad Age.