I can't recall the details, but I seem to recall some years ago that a psychological experiment was done, where various people were invited for an interview of some sort, and on the way to that interview they were exposed to many subtle signs and things (pre-staged by the experimenters) such that when the people arrived for the interview, their responses were strongly influenced by the things they had seen along the way to that interview. Subtle messaging had influenced their responses. Could the number 17 be in the news so much now that people are being led to see 17 as a positive thing?