Trending PR Campaigns
MyHeritage Finds Sweeney and Monroe Are Related
MyHeritage traced Sydney Sweeney and Marilyn Monroe’s family trees and found they are ninth cousins once removed, sharing a 17th-century ancestor. The genealogy company turned familiar comparisons between the two actors into a real family connection, giving entertainment outlets a fresh angle to cover.
Why it worked: It hijacked an ongoing pop-culture comparison with verified, specific genealogy data tied to a current Monroe film moment, creating a news peg.
The lesson: Consider piggybacking on a trending comparison by proving or debunking it with verifiable records, timed to a relevant cultural release.
Coverage over time
How this story spread across the media