‘The sip heard round the world’ flooded the Twitter-sphere last night when Florida Senator Marco Rubio sneaked in a quick taste of Poland Spring right in the middle of the official Republican response to President Obama’s State of the Union speech.

Tweets that included the terms ‘Rubio’ and ‘water’ peaked at 57,466 mentions, far outpacing mentions for ‘Desiline Victor’, the endearing 102-year-old Miami voter Obama highlighted in his section on voting rights.

Comparative Twitter mentions of ‘Rubio’, ‘Water’ and ‘Rubio Water’ according to Topsy

Senator Rubio recognized the need for self-deprecation after a speech riddled with sweaty forehead swipes and ‘the sip’. Which is why he immediately posted this photo to his Twitter handle following his speech:

Marco Rubio’s Tweet following last night’s Republican response speech

These Oreo, “You can still dunk in the dark” Super Bowl moments are rare and Poland Spring was asleep at the wheel on Facebook and winter hibernating on Twitter (last Tweet was July 20th). 

Jane Lazgin, Poland Spring’s media contact said by phone, “I had no idea we would get such a response to an impromptu sip of water“.

Lazgin is right, sometimes we don’t know what will cause ‘such a response’. But there’s something Senator Rubio and Oreo’s know very well: There’s an active, three-screen audience out there thirsty (no pun intended) for social content and unless your brand can identify, evolve and market in real-time then you’ve missed the boat. That’s my final water reference.