It would make for a fine bit of investigative reporting. Wish I had an article to recommend.
My source is a medium prominent tech executive who tried to disrupt the Valentine's Day flower business (with its high mark-ups). His plan was to set up his own, lower-priced regional alternative -- which would bring in planeloads of flowers from Central America, right on time.
Things did not work out the way he had hoped. Everything went sideways the first year. He tried again, and the second year was catastrophically worse. There was no third year.
That's why you should always have a domain expert on board when trying to enter a business you deem ripe for disruption. Chances are very high that you do not completely understand it.
NPR's Planet Money did an episode on the Valentine's Day rose craziness. I don't recall it being about particularly offside tactics, but it's from three years ago.
