I don't think it's really a matter of "what most people want", I doubt if they care. It's more a case of, "most of our readers who generally take the paper are going to take it anyway, out of habit. But here's a story that is going to get a lot of extra people buying a copy, so let's take the opportunity for all it's worth."

And it's natural for people to like to be part of something that a lot of other people are into, we're built to gravitate together, for good and ill. A royal wedding, a public execution, a sporting event, a big music event in Hyde Park, a revolution...