‘Alex from Target’ becomes Internet sensation

A lowly Target cashier is taking social media by storm. Will the brand be able to boost its PR efforts by capitalizing on the trend? 

Ragan Insider Premium Content
Ragan Insider Content

Last week, a tween named Alex was just a random checkout person at an undisclosed Target. Today, he is an Internet sensation, all because a young lady snapped his photo and posted it to Twitter.

With all this viral goodness, can Twitter capitalize? Should it capitalize? And how would it even begin to capitalize on something so crazy?

It all started Nov. 2 when the Twitter user @auscalum tweeted Alex from Target’s photo with the caption “YOOOOOOOOOO” to her followers. It should be noted that Alex bears a passing resemblance to circa 2012 Justin Bieber in the hair department.

The photo was retweeted thousands of times. It quickly became a trending topic, and now things like this are popping up:

#alexfromtarget is like an inside joke with the whole twitter world 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/FpU5DadgDA

— Tessa Baker (@123tessab) November 3, 2014

and this is why i love twitter, people. #alexfromtarget pic.twitter.com/RdMsdwJ70m

To read the full story, log in.
Become a Ragan Insider member to read this article and all other archived content.
Sign up today

Already a member? Log in here.
Learn more about Ragan Insider.