'Alex From Target' and the Mess of Uncontrollable Fame

[methodwriter85]

So some girl took a pic of this teenaged guy working at Target, someone hashtagged it "Alex from Target", and the photo went viral. He now has over 700k Twitter followers and even made an appearance on Ellen as a result.

 

Here's his appearance on Ellen:

 

 

 

And here's an article that kinda ponders what it means when fleeting fame can be attained for making no effort at all...

 

'Alex from Target' and the Mess of Uncontrollable Fame

 

It's interesting how much the internet has changed the fame game. I think it's fascinating that at the speed of light, some obscure person can be turned into an internet meme and suddenly have thousands of fans. I also kind of wish this happened a few weeks earlier, because Alex from Target would have been an absurdly easy Halloween costume. In general, I just find it pretty funny and hilarious.

 

It's a real big change from when I was 13, and my teen idols came from watching the WB or seeing 98 Degrees on MTV's Total Request Live.

Edited November 9, 2014 by methodwriter85

[Gene Splicer PHD]

And his girlfriend has been getting death threats....from other girls that want to be with Alex. Fame brings the crazy.

 

Yeah, it's fun to look at, but I bet you wouldn't want to be in their shoes.

Edited November 9, 2014 by Gene Splicer PHD

[JamesSavik]

He's a nice looking kid with great smile and a ton of charisma.

 

Big time careers have been built on much less.

[Arpeggio]

That smile won me over. 

[TetRefine]

Grown ass housewives fawning over a 16 year old boy....

[Gene Splicer PHD]

Yeah, Matt. I personally think the whole thing is kind of gross.

[methodwriter85]

Grown ass housewives fawning over a 16 year old boy....

 

I thought it was mostly other teenagers? Hmm.

 

This guy's commentary pretty much mirrors my thoughts about it:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7V3ive02BI

 

 

It's like this kid did absolutely nothing, but then gained hundreds of thousands of followers, and there's something kind of fascinating about that.

Edited November 10, 2014 by methodwriter85

[TetRefine]

Plus Target is using him as their publicity bitch.

 

....no one ever took secret creepy pictures of me when I worked at Target...

[Irritable1]

Wow. This is pretty creepy.

[Celethiel]

Grown ass housewives fawning over a 16 year old boy....

 

they do that all the time... there have been law suits and criminal cases about things like school teachers fawning and falling in love with their 16 year old students....

it's not really anything new or anything that is nessarilly based on a single gender. Basically it's called Statory Rape... Guy and girl get together except one or the other is underage and therefor his/her judgement is called into question.

so don't be going after that poor boy now

Plus Target is using him as their publicity bitch.

 

....no one ever took secret creepy pictures of me when I worked at Target...

But we don't want to see you in that spandex thong you were wearing

...

Which means his publicity will last just about as long as it's useful for Target...

[methodwriter85]

Plus Target is using him as their publicity bitch.

 

....no one ever took secret creepy pictures of me when I worked at Target...

 

 

Probably because you're a beefy, grown man and not a twink ready for his Tiger Beat close-up? (That's not a bad thing at all.)

[Caz Pedroso]

He'll probably only be famous until the next thing comes along.

 

The fawning public these days are nothing if not fickle and easily distracted.

[jdmotion]

This poor kid is going to get a ton of offers from companies for his image. He seems so overwhelmed. Hopefully he can take advantage of that.

[Irritable1]

I think if he were a girl this kind of inappropriate attention would be called out as the invasion of privacy that it is. Were I his parent I'd be really angry.

[Valkyrie]

The Today Show did an update on his story yesterday and the poor kid is afraid to leave his house because of all the attention and death threats he has received.  He still works at Target, but has a security detail to keep away the crazies.  WTF is wrong with people? 

[methodwriter85]

Damn. There went the cute and fluffy "Aww, isn't that funny!" aspect of the story.

[zaf89]

Oh, wow. That's really sad. Poor kid. 

[Sasha Distan]

I agree with Irri: Creepy

 

the girl/person who took the picture is a bit... weird generally. taking pictures of cute people you don't know and then putting them online? if this was a middle aged man and a 16 year old girl: society would be up in arms and shouting about the terrors of social media.

[Irritable1]

We don't know who took the original pic, but it was on tumblr, so it was someone under 30  A teenager retweeted it, no surprises there. I don't know that there's anyone to be flung in jail over all this, but wow.

 

I read a disturbing rumor that this all started from some marketing pics. We're routinely asked whether candids of our kids can be used in marketing materials and I've always assumed it was no biggie and said yes... A couple of weeks ago, I just withheld approval for the first time from some Muslim education program at my kids' school because I didn't have time to research how conservative the parent org was. 

[Gene Splicer PHD]

After it went viral, some marketing company sleazebags jumped in and tried to take credit, saying Target had paid for all of it. Totally unfounded.

 

I know some famous people. The extent they have to go to to mask their private lives, protect themselves and their families, and generally live in a prison of their own making is sometimes unreal.

 

It's no wonder that kids like bieber and the other Disney brats go nuts when they reach a certain age. And it's no surprise that they can't handle the results, being young and inexperienced and sheltered.

 

The good news for this kid is that he's a flash in the pan - it'll all be forgotten soon.

[SolarMaxx]

That's a cute kid -- I hope someone is looking out for him before he ends up swimming with sharks!

[methodwriter85]

   Alex from Target was featured on ABC's The Year in Review.

 

   Seriously though, how does this kid go back to being a normal 11th grade kid after a whirlwind like this?

[TetRefine]

He'll be instantly forgotten and cast back into the general pool once the next cute, young white boy comes along on the internet. 

Edited December 29, 2014 by TetRefine

[methodwriter85]

Well, it's leveled off and his Twitter followers are now down to about 711k. As an update, he's apparently quit his Target job and will pursue acting and/or singing.

 

It'll be interesting to see what this guy is like at 25. Seriously, how can you possibly go back to being a normal guy living a normal life after the whirlwind he got? He'll be chasing that for the rest of his life.

Edited March 4, 2015 by methodwriter85

[craftingmom]

Funny thing... yesterday I found out a friend was now working at our Target in town.  I came home and asked the girls, "Guess who's working at Target?"

 

The oldest's response:  "Alex?"