What a day for Etch A Sketch!

For Mitt Romney, on the other hand—ouch.

Romney aide and spokesperson Eric Fehrnstrom on Wednesday compared the candidate to an Etch A Sketch, telling CNN how the GOP frontrunner can appeal to moderates:

“Well, I think you hit a reset button for the fall campaign, everything changes. It’s almost like an Etch A Sketch. You can kind of shake it up and restart it all over again.”

Not. Good. Particularly when the candidate is trying to shake off the reputation that he lacks conviction for the conservative ideals he claims to espouse. Of course, his opponents, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich, along with a slew of Democrats, took advantage of the flap, issuing press statements and tweets.

Gingrich, for example, tweeted: “Etch A Sketch is a great toy but a losing strategy. We need a nominee with bold conservative solutions.”

Etch A Sketch also seized upon the attention, issuing a pun-heavy statement that said:

Happy to see Etch A Sketch, an American classic toy, is DRAWING attention with political candidates as a cultural icon and important piece of our society. A profound toy, highly recognized and loved by all, is now SHAKING up the national debate. Nothing is as quintessentially American as Etch A Sketch and a good old fashion political debate.

We are pleased with the added attention being drawn to Etch A Sketch, which is truly one of the most recognizable, iconic and fun toys ever developed. As one of the most classic toys of all time, Etch A Sketch has always sold particularly well with today's consumer. It is too early to tell, but we are hopeful to see if there is an uptake in sales given this recent exposure.

The toy name became a trending topic on Twitter, and the incident even drew attention to the PR professional and firm that represents the Etch A Sketch parent company, Ohio Art.

When contacted by BuzzFeed, Etch A Sketch spokesperson (how’d you like that title?) Nicole Gresh said:

“This has been a pretty crazy day for me since 2:00 pm compared to a normal work day. The last time I fielded a press phone call about Etch A Sketches is when it made the Guinness Book of World Records [in June 2011].

"Everyone is calling about this topic right now.”

Gresh works for Southard Communications, which represents Ohio Arts.

Fehrnstrom, meanwhile, is no rookie when it comes to the media game. He’s a former Boston Herald reporter turned political PR strategist. He’s part of The Shawmut Group, a public affairs consultancy in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

Thanks to Fehrnstrom, the Etch A Sketch might be among the defining buzz terms for the election. Someone from Southard Communications should send him a fruit basket—or a bottle of something strong.

(Image via)