The latest Internet meme could be a useful resource for media relations professionals.

Last week, Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper told a reporter:

“I’m not going to answer that; That’s a clown question, bro.”

The 19-year-old rookie had hit a homerun to help his team beat the Toronto Blue Jays, and the reporter wanted to know whether Harper planned to toast his success with a beer because the drinking age in Canada is 19.

Bryce, who is Mormon (and therefore doesn’t drink), fired off that catchy response.

[Read PR Daily’s analysis of the exchange here.]

And now so has Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Roll Call reporter Stephen T. Dennis asked Reid about Sen. Mitch McConnell and the DREAM act. To which the Senate majority leader replied: “I don’t want to answer that question; that’s a clown question, bro.”

The reporters in attendance chuckled, and Reid did, in fact, answered the question.

(You can listen to the exchange here.)

Last week, media outlets and countless Twitter users caught “That’s a clown, question, bro” fever. Fox News’s Chris Wallace dropped it effectively. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney didn’t use it all, unfortunately.

Oh, and there’s a T-shirt with the slogan.

Go ahead and say it the next time you speak with a journalist. But make sure you do it sooner than later before it slips from our collective consciousness. (Hurry! It’s already slipping.)

(via The Atlantic Wire, NPR)