During the last few months, we’ve been bombarded by news coverage of purported PR “stunts” conducted by “regular folks” that have resulted in media firestorms. Whether it was the alleged White House party crashers or the Balloon Boy supposedly flying off into the great beyond, news organizations around the globe picked up these stories and ran with them. Although facing potential punishment for their actions, the people involved got what they ultimately wanted – the chance to become famous (or infamous) and a place in the popular culture Hall of Fame.

Aside from wondering how these folks actually pulled off their respective forays into the media spotlight, what is truly amazing is how quickly these stories became part of our daily lives. Now that the dust has settled a bit, we have to ask ourselves the burning question, “Why were we and the media so interested?” It seems a big part of the interest has to do with the human drama and eventual back-story tied to each stunt. As these bizarre dramas unfolded, we watched as larger-than-life stories about real people played out in real time, right in front of our eyes.

As a public relations professional, you have to wonder if there is anything to learn from all of this (aside from how far people will go to get their own reality show). It seems the big lesson is that if you surprise the media and media consumers while, at the same time, challenging societal norms (ideally somewhat tastefully and without breaking the law), you have a story that’s going to get an emotional reaction and make a big impact, good or bad. It’s the over-the-top element of surprise and the unexpected that drove these real-life human interest dramas to new heights of sensationalism. In short, they were as entertaining as any reality show or prime-time drama could ever be.

Like any good publicity stunt, it’s the element of surprise that gets the attention. Just don’t try to crash the White House or pretend that one of your family members is floating away in a make-shift balloon. It’s been done.

-- Mark Malinowski, Vice President