How much do you love chicken nuggets? Or any food, for that matter? Enough to pester complete strangers – 18 million of them – on the Internet to vouch for you?
That’s what Carter Wilkerson, a teenager in Nevada, is trying to do. On Apr. 5, he and fast food franchise Wendy’s exchanged tweets: Wilkerson asked how many retweets it would take to get a year of free chicken nuggets, and the company’s corporate social media account responded with 18 million.
HELP ME PLEASE. A MAN NEEDS HIS NUGGS pic.twitter.com/4SrfHmEMo3
— Carter Wilkerson (@carterjwm) April 6, 2017
That’s more than six times any other retweet, ever.
It’s been less than a week and Wilkerson has already garnered more than 2.3 million, but he’s getting help from unlikely sources.
Some of the biggest technology and telecommunications companies have thrown their support behind Wilkerson. Microsoft Corp. was the first to show love on Apr. 7, and challenging Amazon.com Inc. and Google Inc. along the way.
We're in. How about you, @Amazon and @Google? #NuggsForCarter https://t.co/zi8FmD6Cf8
— Microsoft (@Microsoft) April 7, 2017
Amazon responded in style with a motivational life quote, and Google played up their “feeling lucky?” button.
Live your best life, Carter. Follow your dreams. #NuggsForCarter https://t.co/PbHd9JMQjE
— Amazon (@amazon) April 8, 2017
Feeling lucky, @carterjwm? #NuggsForCarter https://t.co/pYqVV6rBh3
— Google (@Google) April 8, 2017
Apple Music also took notice, saluting the teen on Apr. 7.
Salute, Carter. #AnotherOne (cc: @Wendys) pic.twitter.com/ZtQASEhC4A
— Apple Music (@AppleMusic) April 7, 2017
Adding fuel to the fire on Apr. 8 was T-Mobile CEO John Legere, who offered to give Wilkerson a year of free Wendy’s chicken nuggets on his own dime if he switched away from current provider AT&T.
Hey @carterjwm, sorry you have @ATT. Switch to @TMobile & I'll give you a year of free @Wendys chicken nuggets myself + more! Seriously. https://t.co/RmVygHPPob
— John Legere (@JohnLegere) April 8, 2017
Following Legere’s style, United Airlines proposed a free flight to any Wendy’s store location if Wilkerson was successful.
If you get the 18 million RTs, we'll give you a free flight to take you to any @Wendys in the world in a city we serve. Good luck! https://t.co/igxnPg1JUF
— United Airlines (@united) April 8, 2017
And on Apr. 9, LinkedIn jumped into the fray, essentially giving the teen a virtual fistbump.
You got this. #NuggsForCarter https://t.co/8bjizeCHUq
— LinkedIn (@LinkedIn) April 9, 2017
The movement sees no sign of slowing down. Celebrities, models, sports stars, and even US state governors have also chimed in, including Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul, Victoria’s Secret angel Martha Hunt, Canadian tennis player Genie Bouchard, and Nevada governor Brian Sandoval.
https://twitter.com/aaronpaul_8/status/850560916156370944
https://twitter.com/MarthaHunt/status/850896308122644480
https://twitter.com/geniebouchard/status/850895200218173440
https://twitter.com/GovSandoval/status/850781637109469184
Regardless of how far Wilkerson’s tweet gets, one thing is for sure: Wendy’s is getting a lot of free advertising out of it.
