Newsjacking is a marketing tactic in which a brand ties its message to a breaking news story while the story is still active, a technique marketing author David Meerman Scott described in his 2011 book. Oreo's 2013 Super Bowl tweet was retweeted thousands of times, per NPR, while DiGiorno's 2014 tweet left its account silent for more than three weeks, per MarTech. Four rules separate the two outcomes.
By the end of this guide, you can decide whether a story is worth joining and run a short check before anything goes live. Last updated October 16, 2026.
What is newsjacking?
Newsjacking is a marketing tactic in which a brand ties its message to a current news story or event to earn attention while the story is still active. Scott introduced the term with his 2011 book, Newsjacking, and defined it as injecting your ideas or angles into breaking news in real time.
The appeal is cost. A well-timed comment on social media is affordable or free, and it can build real interest in a brand when it is done well. NPR noted in 2013 that Oreo's tweet did not cost millions of dollars like a Super Bowl television spot. The risk sits in the same place. A careless post can become a public relations problem within the hour, which is why newsjacking belongs next to digital PR planning and not after it.
Three names appear throughout this guide. Oreo is the cookie brand whose agency, 360i, posted the blackout tweet. DiGiorno is the frozen pizza brand that joined a hashtag it had not read. Scott is the author who gave the tactic its name.
Rule 1: How do you pick the right news story?
Pick a story only when your brand has a real connection to it, because audiences can tell a fit from a stretch.
Many news stories carry a negative side, and a brand does not need to attach itself to a negative one to benefit. Oreo is the model. A power outage interrupted Super Bowl XLVII on February 3, 2013, and Digiday's oral history records that it soon became clear everyone was fine. Oreo's tweet used the dark itself as the hook, and Digiday's next-morning article called it "one of the most successful and brilliant acts of branding" of that game. The link between product and moment took one sentence to explain: you can still dunk a cookie in the dark.
Use that sentence as your test. If the link between the story and your brand needs a second sentence, skip the story. Cost is low and the pull is strong, so brands are tempted to join every trending topic. A forced connection reads as forced.
| Story type | When to join | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Harmless event (sports delay, weather, awards show) | When your product fits the moment in one sentence | Many brands join at once, so wit decides who stands out |
| Industry news (new rule, competitor launch, data release) | When you hold expert comment or original data | Needs a spokesperson ready within hours |
| Tragedy, violence or disaster | Skip, or limit the response to support and donations | Any joke or sales message reads as exploitation |
| Political or divisive story | Only when the topic is part of the brand's stated position | Draws backlash from the audience that disagrees |
Rule 2: How should a brand newsjack on social media?
Social media is the lowest-cost route to newsjacking, and one short, well-stated post is often enough to draw interest.
Both Oreo and DiGiorno posted on Twitter, now X. Oreo's blackout post was a single image of a cookie in the dark with a single line, "You can still dunk in the dark," as NPR reported the next day. Nothing in it asked for a sale.
That restraint is the pattern. A strong newsjacking post is personal, non-promotional and still tied to the brand in a way the reader can see. A thought-provoking or political comment can pull attention, but each one needs a read on how your own audience, and everyone else who sees the post, will take it. The goal is conversation. A backlash that damages the brand's reputation is the cost of getting that read wrong. Humor works when the subject allows it, and a joke about a story that involves harm does not.
A post on a social platform scrolls away within hours. A short page on the brand's own site that comments on the same story stays available to search engines and to AI tools such as ChatGPT and Perplexity, which retrieve pages when they answer questions. Brands that run social media marketing programs can pair the post with that page so the effort keeps working after the timeline moves on.
Rule 3: What belongs in a newsjacking contingency plan?
A contingency plan names who steers the effort, who approves the message, and which creative is ready before the news arrives.
Speed is the reason to plan. Oreo's team ran a dry run the day before the game, according to Digiday's oral history, so the blackout met a team that had already practiced. Brands that decide roles during the event spend the useful minutes on debate.
| Role | Responsibility | Prepared ahead |
|---|---|---|
| Lead (PR or communications head) | Makes the go or no-go call and owns the final message | A written approval rule, including who can say no |
| Social media manager | Writes and posts, then monitors replies | Post templates, image formats and reply guidelines |
| Digital or marketing lead | Supplies data, product facts and a landing page | Pages and assets matched to likely story types |
| Legal or compliance | Clears claims, trademarks and sensitive topics | A list of off-limit topics and wording |
| Executive spokesperson | Gives comment to reporters | A short bio, topic list and phone availability |
The creative should exist before the story does. Illustrative scenario: a beverage brand that sponsors a city marathon drafts three weather-delay posts, one image for each, and has legal clear all three in advance. When a storm delays the race, the team picks one, checks the context, and posts in minutes instead of hours.
A plan also covers the bad outcome. It says who deletes a post, who writes the correction, and who answers replies. The crisis communications playbook and the newsjacking playbook should share the same contacts.
Rule 4: What should you check before you hit send?
Check what a hashtag, headline or event means to the people already talking about it, because speed does not excuse skipping that read.
DiGiorno's 2014 post shows what skipping it costs. The Baltimore Ravens had just terminated running back Ray Rice after TMZ released video of him hitting his then-fiancee, and domestic abuse survivors were using #WhyIStayed to explain why they had stayed with abusive partners. DiGiorno tweeted "#WhyIStayed You had pizza." The brand apologized quickly and said it "did not read what the hashtag was about" before posting.
The tweet was gone within minutes. The account then spent about 24 hours apologizing to individual users and stayed quiet for more than three weeks, returning on October 1, 2014, according to MarTech. The same tactic that made Oreo look sharp made DiGiorno look careless. Newsjacking gives and takes away.
A send check closes that gap: five questions answered by a named person before a newsjacking post goes live.
| Check | Question to ask | Stop signal |
|---|---|---|
| Context | What is this hashtag or story about right now? Read the top posts first. | Anyone is describing harm, grief or abuse |
| Connection | Can we state the link between the story and the brand in one sentence? | It needs a second sentence |
| Audience | How will customers, critics and people affected by the story read it? | Any group could read it as mocking |
| Owner | Who approved it, and who watches replies for the first hour? | Nobody is named |
| Exit | How do we delete, correct or apologize if it goes wrong? | There is no plan |
The check takes minutes. It costs far less than three weeks of silence on a brand's main account.
What did Oreo do right and DiGiorno do wrong?
Oreo joined a harmless event with a one-sentence connection and a rehearsed team, while DiGiorno joined a hashtag about abuse without reading it.
| Factor | Oreo, 2013 | DiGiorno, 2014 |
|---|---|---|
| The story | A power outage at Super Bowl XLVII | The #WhyIStayed hashtag after the Ray Rice video |
| The connection | Cookie and dark, stated in one line | None. The hashtag was a discussion of abuse |
| Preparation | A dry run the day before the game | No check of the hashtag's meaning before posting |
| Outcome | Retweeted thousands of times | Tweet deleted, apologies, account silent for over three weeks |
Both brands moved fast. Only one decided in advance what a good move looked like.
Brand voice carries the rest. A tweet only works when it sounds like the brand that posts it, and that voice is built long before a news event. Teams that treat branding and public relations as one job get that consistency. PR that supports search and AI citations then keeps the coverage findable after the moment passes.
Conclusion: what to settle before the next story breaks
Newsjacking rewards brands that settle four things before the news arrives: which stories fit, who posts, who approves, and what gets checked. Oreo had rehearsed, and DiGiorno had not read the hashtag. Before the next story, write the one-sentence connection and name the person who can say no.
