Teen’s request for free Wendy’s chicken nuggets breaks retweet record
May 9, 2017, 1:27 PM
(Twitter Photo/@carterjwm)
(Twitter Photo/@carterjwm)
When Carter Wilkerson tweeted at Wendy’s early last month to ask them for free chicken nuggets, he probably wasn’t expecting to become the most retweeted tweet of all time.
But that’s what happened. On Tuesday, Twitter confirmed that the high school student’s message had surpassed talk show host Ellen DeGeneres for the most retweets in the social media site’s history.
As of Tuesday, his tweet had been retweeted 3,478,226 times. DeGeneres’ was sitting at 3,432,960 retweets.
It all started when Wilkerson, who lives in Reno, Nevada, asked the fast-food chain how many tweets he would need to get free chicken nuggets for a year.
HELP ME PLEASE. A MAN NEEDS HIS NUGGS pic.twitter.com/4SrfHmEMo3
— Carter Wilkerson (@carterjwm) April 6, 2017
The tweet took off. What started as a joke online soon caught the eye of numerous celebrities and companies.
It's good to have dreams https://t.co/gY4WfBX45i
— Aaron Paul (@aaronpaul_8) April 8, 2017
We're in. How about you, @Amazon and @Google? #NuggsForCarter https://t.co/zi8FmD6Cf8
— Microsoft (@Microsoft) April 7, 2017
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
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 (@united) April 8, 2017
We like you too, @carterjwm! DM us so we can #ShareACoke with you! #NuggsForCarter #CokeForCarter pic.twitter.com/BYULpCHW2d
— Coca-Cola Florida (@CokeFlorida) April 29, 2017
Though he fell short, Wendy’s still awarded Wilkerson with a free year of chicken nuggets.
.@carterjwm is now the most retweeted tweet of all-time. That’s good for the nuggets, and $100k to @DTFA. Consider it done. #nuggsforcarter pic.twitter.com/k6uhsJiP4E
— Wendy's (@Wendys) May 9, 2017
But Wilkerson is not the only one to benefit. Wendy’s donated $100,000 to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, a group that pairs foster children with homes.
Wilkerson is also raising money for the foundation by selling T-shirts online that feature the hashtag #NuggsForCarter
“I want to give back,” Wilkerson told Twitter. “I am so blessed to have an opportunity to use my voice to support something I believe in.
And really grateful to everyone who retweeted my post. They made this happen.”
