bleached-butthole effect

The bleached-butthole effect —

1. when a shocking, extreme and uncommon subject seems to be more prevalent and relevant than in actuality and receives disproportionate attention in public discourse, to the expense of normal but often critically important subjects
2. when some butthead exploits the bleached-butthole effect for profit, distracting our collective attention away from more relevant and important things, just so butthead and co. can make a buck
3. when the fourth estate promotes this drama, as they're in the business of keeping our attention, and distractions and theatrics are an effective means of doing so

He shamelessly exploited the bleached-butthole effect until he had dominated the collective attention span of the entire world for weeks on end.