Peter Dutton, an Australian politician, was defeated in his efforts to become prime minister on Friday.

But Peter Dutton, a popcorn seller in Austin, Tex., turned a fleeting moment of mistaken identity into fame on the other side of the world, plans for a new vacation and a potentially lucrative business opportunity.

The latter Mr. Dutton, 30, experienced a now-common social media phenomenon: sharing the name of a person in the news, he (@PeterDutton5) received a barrage of messages intended for someone else (@PeterDutton_MP). This being Twitter, most of the messages were less than pleasant.

It has happened many times before, and will happen many times again. Ask George Papadopoulos, Jonathan Martin or Gerry Sandusky.