the meditation app Calm wedged itself into the conversation about tennis star Naomi Osaka. When Osaka, the No. 2 player in the world, announced that she’d skip her mandatory media obligations for the 2021 French Open, citing mental health reasons, she was fined $15,000 and eventually dropped out of the tournament. Calm supported Osaka by pledging a donation to Laureus Sport, a global athletic non-profit, and committing to cover the fines that any other players incurred by skipping their media availability.
Whatever fear or reticence marketers used to display before wading into the complicated—even cancellable—territory of current events is effectively gone. These days, brands go for broke, even if it means suffering the backlash. In those cases, the brands simply reaffirm the old adage that all publicity is good publicity and that in this high-metabolism news cycle, the swift win the race.
When a Meme Is Not Just a Meme
newsjack doesn't just comment on the news; It jacks it, and becomes a story on its own. These brands have all tried their hand at breaking into the news cycle—some with better results than others. Decide for yourself: Who successfully jacked the news, and who failed?
Newsjacking in the Wild
See which companies managed to catch a news story early and ride the wave to newsjacking glory… and which ones crashed and burned.
The Mercedes F1 Team played into their racing prowess: The wide gap between the calm and collected copy and the absurd image of a single-seater moving the Ever Given was a winning combination.
Mercedes F1 Team
Brand Relevant
Forced Connection
Smart take
insentitive
tailgating
First on scene
Quadrant of success
The Ever Given Debacle
Nailed It!
Failed It!
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Sometimes, humor just can’t be explained. It’s hard to put into words why this ad isn’t funny, but it’s not—what’s the XXL burger doing in the canal, exactly?
Most recently,
But is the publicity really good? Is newsjacking a sustainable and interesting strategy that actually boosts not just brand awareness but brand integrity? In today’s fast-paced, all-or-nothing political landscape, can newsjacking ever rise above transparent opportunism in a way that makes for good marketing?
creative Marketing
A successful
Burger King (Chile)
Ever given
Wage Gap
Bernie
Covid-19
Every day, hundreds of massive boats pass through Egypt’s Suez Canal on their shipping routes. When one got stuck in the canal and blocked it for almost an entire week, the Internet had a field day—and brands, of course, weren’t far behind.
The Gender Wage Gap
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Failed It!
Nailed It!
BK again? Indeed, it hasn’t been a banner 2021 for the burger chain’s social teams. The rest of Burger King’s thread, which included considerable donations to charity, was eclipsed by provocation gone wrong. Even the best intentions can have the wrong result.
Burger King (UK)
Ben & Jerry’s understands consistency and nuance. Over the years, they’ve made social change such an intrinsic part of their brand’s mission, that they can tackle specific issues of equity head-on.
Ben and Jerry’s
In light of the successful efforts of the #MeToo movement in 2018 and 2019 and the ongoing movement for transgender rights, attention has been increasingly on closing the gender pay gap.
Bernie’s Mittens
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Failed It!
Nailed It!
So many companies got this wrong, it was hard to pick just one—but we settled on CAVA, the California-based chain restaurant. But here’s a classic example of what not to do when you’re jacking the news: CAVA didn’t post until the next day—missing the moment when the meme was actually funny. Then, to make matters worse, they paired their boring photograph with a self-serving caption. Did it harm the brand? Not really, but it was certainly a missed opportunity.
CAVA
Shopify was one of the first brands to weigh in on the conversation, getting a post up the evening of the same day. The tweet was light-hearted, self-deprecating, and also got right to the point of what their business is all about: sales. It paid off.
Shopify
A photograph of a masked (and somewhat testy) Senator Bernie Sanders, sitting alone at the presidential inauguration and wearing an eye-catching pair of mittens, went totally viral—drawing favorable attention to Sanders as well as his fetching, soon-to-be coveted hand-warmers: “We make good mittens in Vermont,” the Senator said.
COVID-19
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Failed It!
Nailed It!
In late February, at the very beginning of the pandemic for the U.S., Corona put out an ad that its new flavors of hard seltzer would be “coming ashore soon.” Though the language is consistent with Corona’s beachy vibe, it was clearly making reference to the spread of the virus, one that most viewers thought was in bad taste.
Corona’s Hard Seltzer
Google’s Year in Search aggregates the most popular searches to explore the year’s trends. In 2020, it made a film that went beyond its usual report, featuring a poem from Kofi Dadzie and an original soundtrack from big names like Chance the Rapper. The cathartic film met the gravity of the moment, but it also reinforced the idea that searching and staying connected with shared information helped us get through 2020.
Google
In March 2020, COVID-19’s spread across the country resulted in shelter-in-place orders, businesses shuttering, and a devastating death toll.
Ever given
Wage Gap
Bernie
Covid-19
Ever given
Wage Gap
Bernie
Covid-19
Ever given
Wage Gap
Bernie
Covid-19
