Chicken Nuggets And The Tweet Heard 'Round The World

Carter Wilkerson finally got his nuggets.

After one of the most aggressive Twitter Inc (NYSE: TWTR) retweet campaigns to meet Wendys Co (NASDAQ: WEN)’s demand for free chicken, the Nevada teen surpassed the all-time retweet record.

His 3,443,433 fell far short of the 18 million benchmark, but the against-all-odds achievement was good enough for Wendy’s.

.@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

“You’ve more than earned our respect ... and the nuggets,” Kurt Kane, Wendy’s chief concept and marketing officer, said in a statement.

Not only did Wilkerson bag his year supply of chicken, but he also secured a $100,000 corporate donation for the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, a cause he promoted through his media exposure.

Thanks to your love of nuggs, we'll be able to find more forever families for kids in foster care! Thank you @carterjwm & @Wendys!!❤️ https://t.co/GphRvusUuC

— DaveThomasFoundation (@DTFA) May 9, 2017

And on top of all that, his name is now immortalized among the Guinness World Records.

Congratulations to @carterjwm who just broke @TheEllenShow's record for most retweeted tweet on @Twitter #NuggsForCarter pic.twitter.com/gwKyq8zmfP

— GuinnessWorldRecords (@GWR) May 9, 2017

The Backstory

The 16-year-old high-school junior had long lauded the food chain’s chicken and recommended it to his early, pre-fame following. But on April 5, he took his passion to another level. Wilkerson tweeted Wendy’s a hopeful inquiry into how many retweets earned a year of free nuggets.

Wendy’s promptly replied with an ambitious, virtually unachievable goal of 18 million. For perspective, the retweet record at the time was a mere 3,430,242 — and that was for a star-studded Oscar photo by the widely popular Ellen Degeneres.

But Wilkerson had a mission, and he wouldn’t surrender easily. He launched a #NuggsForCarter campaign that, throughout the next month, garnered great publicity.

HELP ME PLEASE. A MAN NEEDS HIS NUGGS pic.twitter.com/4SrfHmEMo3

— Carter Wilkerson (@carterjwm) April 6, 2017

Wilkerson didn’t let his overnight fame go to waste. Through a campaign website and #NuggsForCarter T-shirt sales, he bolstered the Dave Thomas Foundation and Pinocchio’s Moms on the Run, a breast cancer support organization, with awareness and donations.

Since news broke of his retweet record Tuesday morning, Wendy’s shares popped to trade up 1.9 percent on the day.

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Image: Greg Hewgill, Flickr