Arby's Tips Hat To Newseum; Pharrell's Famed GRAMMY Accessory Arrives At Museum

PENN QUARTER -- One could say that Arby's literally arrived 'hat in hand' at the Newseum yesterday, as executives from the 50-year old sandwich shop paid a quick summer visit to the District.

It was quite obviously a 'happy' trip, however, with Arby's temporarily loaning the museum the now iconic hat that Pharrell wore some 8 months ago at the 2014 GRAMMY Awards.

The story behind how the restaurant, known more for its slow roasted meats than sartorial savvy, wound up with the infamous hat is rather entertaining. And no doubt also the reason why the Newseum will welcome the fashion accessory to its Great Hall of News, from now through October 26th.

In watching this year's GRAMMYs, Arby's social media team recognized a certain similarity between Pharrell's hat and the chain's logo. A playful "Hey @Pharrell, can we have our hat back?" tweet was penned. Encouraged by an equally humorous reply from the recording megastar ("Y'all tryna start a roast beef?") and more than 80,000 retweets later, the Vivienne Westwood-designed hat soon found itself part of the cultural zeitgeist.

Beyond the tongue in cheek nature of the entire episode, the ensuing conversation and how a simple tweet transformed into a publicity bonanza for Arby's (who later pledged $44,100 to Pharrell's From One Hand To Another charity in exchange for the hat) is a lesson in the power of real time social media.

The Newseum's display of the hat is therefore not just an example of another cultural artifact, but rather a deliberate attempt to encourage discussion about the news-making potential of online episodes when they go viral.

No one said that making headlines couldn't be fun though. And the unveiling party for the Newseum's latest addition on Thursday evening was definitely fun, with Wolfgang Puck Catering serving-up an Arby's-inspired menu (e.g., curly fries, roast beef, etc.) and DJ Scientific ensuring that top brass and guests alike were dancing.

Hat's off to all in attendance.