Wendy’s Nugget Fiend Comes Close to Breaking Twitter Record

April 6: On The Office, Michael Scott once quoted hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, who once said, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.” A Twitter user named Carter Wilkerson is taking his shot. On Wednesday at 10:31 p.m., Wilkerson decided he had the audacity to request a year of free chicken nuggets from popular fast-food chain Wendy’s.

This is a man of action. Wendy’s was impressed, responding to Wilkerson and telling him it would take 18 million retweets to get a year’s supply of the best chicken nuggets in America. That’s a lot of retweets. The most-retweeted tweet ever was Ellen DeGeneres’ famous Oscars selfie. That one has only garnered 3.2 million retweets, as Mashable notes. But, Wilkerson was not discouraged. He tweeted a call to action, and now he is patiently waiting while the retweets roll in. With 313 million active monthly users, it would take 5 percent of the entire Twitterverse retweeting Wilkerson for the chicken nugget aficionado to reach his goal.

As of this posting, Wilkerson’s request is up to 508,820 retweets. Only 17,491,180 to go! This could take a while.

Of course, now that Twitter allows users to retweet themselves, Wilkerson could take matters into his own hands. Although, even if he were able to fire off a retweet every second, that would take 18 million seconds, which equals 208 days. That’s nearly seven months of endless retweeting — no breaks for sleeping or eating.

If you want free chicken nuggets, Mr. Wilkerson, you’ll have to earn them.

Update, April 12: Well, this thing has really taken off. With more than 2.6 million retweets, it appears Wilkerson’s nugget request is the second-most-retweeted tweet of all time. He’s bested President Barack Obama and One Directioner Harry Styles, which is quite the accomplishment. Ellen’s Oscars selfie is in serious danger of losing its claim to the throne.

Wilkerson’s request has brought the 16-year-old Reno, Nevada, resident newfound internet fame, jumping from fewer than 1,000 Twitter followers before the tweet to more than 42K. It turns out, he may have bitten off more than he can chew: “Carter is kind of a shy kid,” J Wilkerson, Carter’s dad, tells People. “So I think the attention is overwhelming him.”

Wilkerson may now be a household name among active Twitter users, but the real winner is Wendy’s. The fast food burger chain is receiving free viral marketing from the likes of celebrities and other brands.

Wilkerson wants free chicken nuggets, but perhaps a better reward for his efforts would be a job as Wendy’s social marketing director.

• The Internet Bands Together to Help a Man Win a Year's Supply of Chicken Nuggets [Mashable]
• Carter Wilkerson [Twitter]
• Wendy’s [Twitter]
• Ranking America’s Fast-Food Chicken Nuggets [E]