You Can’t Always Believe What You See

Recently I was talking with someone who worked for a national business group. He explained how one of their recent events attracted some protestors, but that they weren’t real protestors. Instead, he identified the leader of the group, someone he’d encountered several times at similar events. And he knew that the man hired most of the protestors from among students, retirees, and the unemployed. Most of the protestors, he was sure, didn’t know anything about the issue they supposedly were protesting.

There’s an industry that is devoted to fooling people. This article gives some details about a firm that is in the business of providing such crowds. They supply protestors, paparazzi, adoring fans, and more.

Lloyd’s friends, Michelle and Secilia, are cast as autograph hounds. Six or seven photographers have been hired to act as paparazzi — actual freelance photo­graphers, some of whom hadn’t realized they’d been hired only to take fake pictures. A hulking guy in a dark suit and sunglasses named Deon Mason is assigned to play the life coaches’ bodyguard, escorting them past all of us, from the door of the ballroom to the registration table. Deon is one of Crowds on Demand’s rising stars, known for his prowess not only as a fake bodyguard but also as an opinionated fashionista at art openings.

My job? Adam appraises me thought­fully. “Tell you what,” he says. “You be the Selfie Guy. Whatever it takes to get a selfie, make it happen. Get rabid.”