AUTHOR: Lisa K. Sass
Every few months, and sometimes weeks, something takes over the cultural conversations. A show drops, a song becomes unavoidable. A video goes viral. And for a brief window of time, everyone is talking about the same thing.
Smart brands and their PR teams jump on these moments and use them.
This is not about chasing trends for the sake of relevance. It’s about recognizing when a cultural moment gives your brand a legitimate, strategic, on-ramp to a story journalists actually want to cover, or an experience your target audience actually wants to show up for.
When done right, “pop culture PR” can generate media coverage, pack a room, and build brand loyalty in ways a traditional press release never will.
First: Understand the Difference Between Newsjacking & Trend-Jacking
Newsjacking is when a brand inserts itself into a breaking news cycle – think a teen mental health facility securing a TV segment after a high-profile story breaks about anxiety among teens. Newsjacking is fast, reactive, and commentary-driven.
Trend-jacking is a little different. It’s when a brand uses a cultural moment, whether it be a trending show, a nostalgic anniversary, a viral pop culture wave, to drive an activation, tell a story, or earn media coverage. It’s often more planned. And for hospitality, food and beverage, and consumer brands, it can be one of the most effective tools in the PR playbook.
A Real Example: How Bridgerton Became a Jewelry Brand’s Biggest PR Moment
When Bridgerton became the most-watched Netflix show of its time during Season 1, the cultural obsession was impossible to ignore. Corsets were trending. The phrase ‘diamond of the season’ was everywhere. People were genuinely enthusiastically in it.
We saw a window. Our client, Robbins Brothers — The Engagement Ring Store — sells diamonds for life’s most significant moments. The brand alignment was obvious. The execution just had to be smart.
We pitched a private Bridgerton-themed brunch, hosted at the Houston Robbins Brothers store before business hours. It was invitation-only — existing customers only, RSVP required. Attendees were encouraged to dress in Regency-era costume and received a ‘dance card’ on arrival, designed like a Bridgerton calling card, with a stamp at each station: bouquet making, a photo booth, diamond education, and more.
A string quartet played modern songs in classical arrangements. Giveaways included diamond jewelry — and, in a nod to the show’s ‘diamond of the season’ plotline, a diamond ring.
The event earned media coverage. It was such a success, we replicated it at the San Diego location.
The lesson: the cultural moment gave us the hook. The brand gave us the story. The execution gave the media something worth showing up for.
Pop Culture PR Can Also Serve a Purpose
Not every trend-jack is about an event or an activation. Sometimes, a pop culture moment gives a brand or organization the right context to tell a story that would otherwise be hard to pitch.
When the Netflix series Love on the Spectrum was generating conversation about neurodiversity and dating, our team recognized an opening for Roman Empire Agency, which works in the autism advocacy space. The show gave the media an immediate cultural touchpoint — and gave our pitch a reason to exist right now, not in a vacuum.
The Newsjack Play: Turning a Viral Complaint into a National Segment
Earlier this year, Coachella was trending across TikTok and social media — but not for the performances. Festivalgoers were flooding feeds with videos about overcrowding, with the consensus that 2026 was significantly more packed than previous years. The content was everywhere. The frustration was real.
Our team recognized the moment. We moved quickly and secured a segment on LiveNOW from FOX, a national broadcast platform, to weigh in on the conversation. The story wasn’t just about Coachella. It was about large-scale event management, crowd safety, and what brands and event organizers should be thinking about when demand outpaces capacity.
That’s the newsjack play. The moment was trending. We had a client with relevant expertise. We moved before the conversation peaked.
The Purpose-Driven Play: When a Pop Culture Moment Reopens a Wound
Not every trend-jack is an opportunity for brand visibility. Sometimes, a cultural moment demands a response — and the right PR move is helping a client find their voice in the middle of it.
When the Rolling Loud documentary trailer dropped last week, it reignited a painful conversation. The film touches on Travis Scott and the 2021 Astroworld tragedy that killed 10 people — including Madison Dubiski, 23 years old, whose family founded the Pink Bows Foundation in her honor to advance crowd safety at live events.
The trailer was released without warning. The family had significant concerns about how it handled the tragedy — and they were not alone. Backlash was immediate.
Our strategy was not to amplify the noise. It was to give the family a platform to speak with purpose. We identified reporters who had already covered the trailer and the surrounding backlash, then followed up with a pitch offering the perspective of a family directly impacted by Astroworld — one that had channeled their grief into systemic change. This has led to national interest in profiling the Dubiksi family’s story and opinions on the situation, with interviews currently being coordinated ahead of the documentary’s October release.
This is what thoughtful pop culture PR looks like on the other side of the spectrum. The moment didn’t belong to the client — it was thrust upon them. The job was to help them show up with dignity, authority, and a story worth telling.
Nostalgia Is the Next Big Wave — and It’s Already Here
If you’re paying attention, you’ve noticed something: nostalgia is having a cultural moment of its own. Brands, studios, and marketers are leaning hard into the emotional power of memory — and audiences are responding.
Take the Hannah Montana 20th anniversary campaign. Disney didn’t just acknowledge the milestone — they built an entire content and PR strategy around it, leaning into the nostalgia of a generation that grew up with the show. The result was significant earned media coverage, organic social amplification, and renewed brand relevance for a property that’s been off the air for over a decade.
Or consider the upcoming Toy Story 5 partnership with Papa John’s. For a limited window tied to the film’s release, select Papa John’s locations will transform into Pizza Planet — straight out of the Toy Story universe. The concept itself was the pitch. It was visual, shareable, and emotionally resonant for anyone who grew up watching the franchise.
These are not coincidences. Nostalgia-driven activations earn coverage because they give journalists two stories in one: the brand story and the cultural moment driving it.
You don’t need to be a national brand to use this strategy. A bar renaming a menu item to coincide with a highly anticipated TV release — say, a Harry Potter-themed night tied to the HBO series premiere — gives a local outlet a timely, visual, specific story on a slow news day. That’s the play.
How to Actually Do It: A Practical Framework
Here’s how to approach pop culture PR without it feeling forced, off-brand, or like you’re three weeks late to the party.
- Start with relevance, not reach. Not every trend is yours to use. The first question is always: Does this moment have a natural connection to what your brand actually does or sells? The Robbins Brothers/Bridgerton alignment worked because both are about love, diamonds, and romance. Force-fitting a trending sound onto a brand with zero connection is noise, not strategy.
- Move before the peak. Trend-jacking has a short window. The goal is to be in the market while the conversation is still building, not after it’s already peaked. Monitor release dates, anniversary milestones, and cultural calendars. Plan when you can. React fast when you can’t.
- Think in activations, not just angles. A pitch that says ‘our restaurant is inspired by Moana’ is fine. A patio watch party, a themed cocktail menu, a limited-time tie-in with a name that makes people smile — that’s a story. Give journalists something to photograph, something to attend, something to share.
- Make the connection explicit in your pitch. Don’t make journalists connect the dots. Open with the cultural moment, establish the tie to your client in one sentence, and tell them what’s happening and when. Timeliness is the entire pitch.
- Know when not to. Some cultural moments carry weight that makes brand participation inappropriate or tone-deaf. Tragedy, controversy, or politically charged moments require careful judgment. If the question ‘should we be inserting ourselves here?’ even crosses your mind, slow down and think it through before you pitch.
The Bottom Line
Pop culture moves fast. The brands that benefit from it are the ones that are paying attention, moving with intention, and working with a PR team that can spot the window before it closes.
This isn’t about going viral. It’s about being relevant at the right moment, to the right audience, with a story that actually lands.
Ready to turn the next big moment into media coverage for your brand? Let’s talk.
