Andy Warhol famously stated in 1968 that "in the future, everyone will be world-famous for Fifteen Minutes." How you spent your fifteen minutes is entirely dependent upon who you are as a person and the way in which you grab your unique flash under the spotlight. You might jump the queue, you may even take the scenic route, and it's the measure of attention you ultimately receive that defines how successful you have been.
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But how far would you go? Is your appetite for fame large enough to sacrifice your integrity and reputation? Would you be willing to face hostility, criticism and belligerence from the British public, all for a measly fifteen minutes?
Oh god, you say. Who on earth would be?
Kate Hopkins, exhibit A, is one such who. The former Apprentice contestant riled the British media in July after declaring on national television that she would not allow her children to play with others who had the "wrong name", using 'Charmaine' and 'Tyler' as examples. Appearing an episode of ITV's This Morning, Ms Hopkins sent the public into an indignant frenzy, with the interview reaching a staggering 11 million views on YouTube. In her defence, she stated: "I am only saying what everyone else thinks".
The pantomime media villain has indeed become something of a fashion statement and she is just one of the many who have crawled out from underneath the woodwork in the last three years, spouting controversy left, right and centre. All these cockroaches yearn for is a reaction, and it's us that hand them one on a plate.
Being popular in the eyes of the public has become indisputably obsolete for certain individuals. To capture the media's attention you have sprinkle a little fuel on the fire to secure that fast ticket to fame. If we consider how little people spoke of Katie Hopkins since her short-lived stint in Lord Sugar's boardroom in 2007, and contrast it with the present day, that’s quite a turnaround - don't you think?
The same can be said about Samantha Brick, who in 2012 stimulated a tumultuous uproar after writing a piece in the Daily Mail about being hated by other women because of her looks. The article, which stocked up 1.5 million hits on the Mail Online Website, saw the narcissistic writer whining about the prejudice she suffered from fellow females for "no other reason than my lovely looks". To no surprise, almost 5000 readers took to the Mail Online website to share their thoughts on Brick's egotism, the majority labelling her "deluded" with a "forgettable face".
Quite right - the article is nonsensical. Brick speaks about the detriments of her beauty as though they are on a par with physical deformities.
But is Samantha Brick genuinely deluded, or in fact wickedly rather clever? It is, after all, her job to write articles which not only promote the paper she is writing for, but herself as a journalist. The writing world is a dog-eat-dog industry, and working for a newspaper like The Daily Mail means you must fight tooth and nail for a spot among some of the most controversial journalists in the country. Brick might think she is a modern-day-Marilyn Monroe, but it is the big sell which lies at the forefront of her priorities.
Let us of course not forget Liz Jones, the despondently cynical shrew who confessed in a 2011 Mail article to stealing sperm from two of her partners to get herself pregnant. The purpose of the article was to warn other men about the "dirty tricks" women can play on their boyfriends or husbands (as if men need another reason to think all women are psychotic, cheers Liz).
This piece is not the first of hers to have ruffled a few feathers, but it’s for this reason that she has achieved such a successful career as both a columnist and editor. Like Samantha Brick, we don’t read her work because we like or agree with her, but because we are so engrossed by what she has to say.
But one tumultuous bout of public animosity still isn't adequately satisfying. These three love-to-hate figures have each scored book deals to have their tactless, brutal viewpoints bound, published and sold across the country. Katie Hopkins launched "The Class Book of Baby Names" shortly after her appearance on This Morning, which reached 10 million hits in just four days. Samantha Brick's first memoir, "Head Over Heels in France" hit book stores in April, while Liz Jones has released three autobiographies, among other books, disclosing her personal life onto paper.
These are women who know what they are doing and will stop at nothing to get what they want, regardless of who gets hurt in the process. In spite of the backlash, they are nearly always successful. But fads never last, and as with every fad the public will get bored of you.
It's called fifteen minutes of fame for that reason alone, and in retrospect, to waste it on cynicism is a bit damn foolish.
But who am I to judge?
