Last weekend (16 July 2022), ABC News published a story about how a Melbourne woman felt patronised, dehumanised, and “like clickbait” after she was filmed without her consent for a TikTok video, which has now been viewed more than 57 million times and garnered over 12 million likes.

In the video, the woman was duped into accepting a bunch of flowers from a “self-styled Insta-Samaritan”. When she asked if she was being filmed, the aspiring influencer’s associates told her no.

The story, which was broken by respected journalist, Virginia Trioli, has subsequently been picked up by scores of Australian and international media outlets, including The Guardian, News.com.au, Mashable, New York Post, Herald Sun, The Australian, and BBC.

Because my professional services firm clients include a number of commercial law firms, what struck me is that no law firm has seized on the opportunity to add a legal spin to the conversation. Yet, the story is immensely newsjack-able. Is it legal to film someone without them knowing? Is it legal to publish that content without the person’s consent? Is there any law in place to protect someone who has been lied to about being filmed? Could a “victim” demand the content be taken down? Does a “victim” have any other legal rights?

Having shared the story in the Australian Legal Community group on LinkedIn, it became evident that there were numerous legal considerations (there was mention of defamation, passing off, consumer and competition, privacy, and criminal laws).

It was also clear that no one engaged in the group discussion could offer a comprehensive point of view.

I’m a huge advocate of newsjacking, which is the practice of taking inspiration from the news and current affairs in such a way as to promote your own business or brand.

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Newsjacking is a gift for commercial law firms as it provides a hook that will capture your target audience’s attention.

Generate ‘earned media’ by newsjacking 

If I were head of communications at a commercial law firm, I would have attempted to newsjack this story. To do that, first thing Monday, I’d have assembled a SWAT team of subject matter experts and asked them to workshop the story.

• What laws are relevant to this situation?
• Were any laws broken?
• What, if any, recourse might the ‘victim’ have?
• What advice might we offer to other people who have been caught in a similar situation?
• What can people do to prevent something like this from happening to them?

Then, I would have gone on the attack: developing a by-line article or op-ed (for a publication such as Lawyers Weekly), a media pitch (to entice general news and legal writers and producers to interview my spokespeople), a client alert (to be blasted out to my corporate and commercial mailing list), a blog post (for my firm’s website and social media assets), and an internal communication (for continuous legal education purposes).

Newsjacking is one of the easiest ways to generate earned media. It builds brand awareness and gives subject matter experts a chance to position themselves as thought leaders.

It’s mind-boggling to me why more commercial law firms aren’t newsjacking.

Jacqueline (Jaci) Burns is the chief marketing officer at Market Expertise.