When there is a known leak in a drain-run, a special dye is added to the water so its passage can be tracked easily ... and the location of the leak determined more readily.
Confused?
A recent doctored photograph appeared on a Forum ... instinct rung a loud bell and switched on a mighty floodlight just earlier!
It feels like a dye down a drain ... add the doctored photograph and then sit back. See how far the dye travels. See how open the drain channel is ... check for leaks. See if all your hard work set up over the last couple of years has reaped dividends!
Such a photograph, outside of usual media channels, would be bound to grab attention. It's imagery would be bound to be cut and pasted; sent willynilly all over the internet. Do something coded to the image (like place a keystroke virus??) and you are guaranteed to get into all the computers it is stored on; into all the mail boxes it is sent to. You are able then to track the passage (the drain) along which the picture is sent in cyberspace. With that market research over with ... you can then make your market researcher disappear ... and you then go back to your secret squirrel location to assess the reactions and see where the dye travelled ...
That ... appears feasible does it not?
(I found something odd contained in the photo ... tampering within the photo .... ?)