An Untapped Market?

Is it me, or does it seem like a whole new level of "victim opportunists" has emerged lately?

I'm referring to people who have something bad happen to them, and then immediately seek out as much attention as possible.

Take this girl for example.
Girl doesn't wear underwear to school one day.
Photo is taken for the yearbook.
Photo shows more than it should.
Girl is embarrassed.
Mother demands that the school recall the yearbooks.
Mother and daughter go on TV to argue their point.

Whether or not the girl (or her mother) has a valid argument against the school, is going to the media really the best option?

From the article, it doesn't sound like it's an obvious image ("maybe it's a shadow"). Seems to me that years ago the girl would have simply lied about the lack of underwear, told everybody that it must be a shadow, act very angry that the photo is so misleading, and move on. At worst, she might be hassled by a few people and rumours would swirl around, and maybe she would be compelled to change schools.

There are many other examples like this lately.

Like the small village in the UK that raised a fuss about appearing in Google Earth because they were worried that criminals would see how nice their homes are.
Or the celebrities who consistently do stupid things in public, then demand their privacy while giving interviews on some gossip show or another (where the interviewer happily tells viewers a complete summary of the stupid things that were done).

It's more than just wanting attention and sympathy -- it's actually a case of the victim-initiated repercussions being far worse than the initial victimization.

Anyways, maybe there's an opportunity here for marketers.
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
The well-known "Whopper Sacrifice" Burger King Facebook promotion related to this strange desire to be a victim and to tell people about it.

It would be interesting to explore this idea of helping customers fulfill a deep desire to be the lovable loser.