BatKid Saves Gotham City and Takes over Social Media
On November 15th, Miles, a five year old cancer fighter got his wish granted from the Greater Bay Area Make-A-Wish Foundation to become a superhero. San Francisco was fully transformed into Gotham City, complete with a black Lamborghini and bat signal. Batman and Miles, also known as BatKid or #SFBatKid, rescued a damsel in distress, stopped the Riddler from robbing a bank, and saved Lou Seal, the SF Giants mascot, from the wrath of the Penguin. At the end of the day, Mayor Lee awarded Miles with a key to the city.
Tens of thousands of people lined the streets of San Francisco to support BatKid. Online however, hundreds of thousands shared their support through social media. President and First Lady Obama, well-known Batman actors Christian Bale, Ben Affleck, Val Kilmer, and famous celebrities such as Britney Spears and Enrique Iglesias all showed their support. In addition, the SF Giants, SF 49ers, and the Golden State Warriors also sent their encouragement. This support was sent via Instagram photos, Tweets, Vines, and Facebook updates. The president especially congratulated Miles via his first ever Vine video, saying: “Way to go, Miles. Way to save Gotham!”Social media allowed everyone to share their voices and show support for BatKid.
Clever Girls Collective, a social media agency, worked with the Make-A-Wish Foundation to set the stage to make the story go viral. #SFBatKid was established as the official hashtag. Social media tools were used to monitor and measure all activity. These electronic emotions generated an estimated 1.7 billion social impressions so far, and the number only continues to grow.
