Food

Nugget Boy Scores Most Ever Retweets In His Holy Quest For A Year’s Supply Of Chicken Nuggets

Never doubt for a second the power of the internet to make very stupid dreams come true.

by Tom Clift  10 May 2017

Want more Junkee in your life? Sign up to our newsletter, and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook so you always know where to find us.

Never doubt for a second the power of the internet to make very stupid dreams come true. If you need proof, just look at Carter Wilkerson, a young man whose unstoppable hunger for chicken nuggets has earned him a place in the history books.

Five weeks ago, the 16-year-old high school student from Reno, Nevada hit up fast food chain Wendy’s on Twitter with a simple question: how many retweets would he need to earn a year’s worth of free chicken nuggets. And for some inexplicable reason, the Wendy’s account tweeted back.

It’s hard to know precisely why Wilkerson’s plea captured the public’s imagination. Perhaps there’s something in human nature that makes us want to root for an underdog. Perhaps people just really, really like chicken nuggets. Whatever the reason, Wilkerson’s tweet has now been retweeted almost 3.5 million times.

Now admittedly, that figure is still a ways away from 18 million. But it is enough to make the tweet the most retweeted tweet in history, surpassing Ellen DeGeneres’ selfie from the 2014 Oscars. The talkshow host has spent the past few weeks trying to protect her record, even bringing Wilkerson on her show to encourage people to retweet him on the condition that they retweet her as well.

She also gave him a free TV and a year’s supply of Ellen underwear.

Wendy’s, of course, have been loving the free publicity, and this morning declared that in honour of Wilkerson’s record, the nuggets would be his. Not only that, but they’re also donating $100,000 in his name to The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, which finds homes for kids in foster care.

Everyone is super stoked about it. Well, almost everyone.