It seems that the right amount of money can really buy you anything-or at the very least provide you with a service. Ranging from strange to unusually helpful, these businesses have managed to find a niche market in just about everything. As long as they continue to gather consumers, these businesses will continue to thrive.
Fake Paparazzi
A business called Crowds on Demand creates the illusion of celebrity. Crowds on Demand provides its clientele with paparazzi, a limo and a crowd ranging from 10-100 people to follow you around, and worship your every move. This may seem like an extremely strange way to spend your paycheque, but for some trying to break into the world of celebrity, it is exactly the kind of “unsolicited” attention they are looking for. This business is most often used for political campaigns, as politicians find it extremely important to maintain an image of popularity to gain progress at the polls.
Professional Cuddlers
Another service, Cuddle Party, offers consensual, non-sexual cuddle sessions. They host parties where up to 15 people will come to enjoy each other’s company. The business makes it clear that they have a strict dress code, a firm restrictive touching-policy and absolutely deny any alcoholic beverages being consumed during the event. Cuddle Party markets themselves as a workshop to demonstrate the healing effects of human touch and what consent really entails.
Bank Robbers
A third service specializes in bank robbery, or rather trying to prevent it in the most contradictory way. A tech security expert is hired by various banks to break into the system without telling their employees. The man uses simple costumes and cheap badges, dressing up as a fireman or inspector. He then tries his best to get as much information from the banks system as he possibly can, in a limited amount of time, and reports back to the banks head office. This process allows the bank’s security system to become impenetrable, so that they can remedy any loopholes that thieves may have access to.
Funeral Mourners
From fake celebrities to bank break-ins it seems nothing is really off limits, and now we can add fake mourners to the list. “Rent a Mourner” is a service that provides additional attendees at a less-than-busy funeral. The service markets themselves as discreet, punctual and offers to attend the funeral or the wake without raising any skepticism. On their website it says that their services are most useful if the individual was new to a city or lacked close relationships. Albeit strange, these services show that there is pretty much a market for anything and everything, if you know where to look.
