9-Year-Old's Superhero Question Brilliantly Hijacks GOP Primary Coverage
A 9-year-old boy and his journalist father demonstrated a masterful example of newsjacking during the GOP primary by asking candidates a simple yet revealing question: "If you could be any superhero, who would you be, and why?"
News lifecycle flowchart
The story quickly gained traction across major media outlets including CNN, Fox News, Washington Post, and USA Today, offering valuable marketing lessons:
- Brand Differentiation
- Most candidates chose Superman, missing an opportunity to stand out
- Jon Huntsman differentiated himself by choosing Spider-Man
- Notable oversight: No one chose Captain America, despite its patriotic appeal
- Media Training Effectiveness
- Rick Santorum expertly connected The Incredibles to his family values message
- Ron Paul's dismissive "I don't know" response demonstrated poor media handling
- Successful responses followed the ATM (Answer and Transition to Message) technique
- Successful Newsjacking Elements
- Created unique angle on saturated GOP primary coverage
- Leveraged timing with breaking news
- Produced remarkable, shareable content
- Demonstrated how individuals can achieve significant media impact
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This case study shows how creative newsjacking can generate substantial media coverage without traditional PR budgets, proving that well-timed, interesting angles on current events can effectively cut through media noise.