#AlexFromTarget began trending on social media Monday for completely inexplicable reasons, and was quickly turned into a jokey phenomenon by the Internet hivemind.
Like many Internet trends, it all began with a teenage boy who somewhat resembles Justin Bieber. It appears a teenage girl snapped a surreptitious photo of a Target clerk she fancied, and shared it with a friend.
Roughly a week later, the photo and related hashtag #AlexfromTarget appears to have been shared nearly a million times on
Twitter alone, USA Today reported Monday.
Soon enough, girls across America were going gaga for Alex from Target, and the jokes quickly followed.
Since the phenomenon took off, Alex himself has stepped forward, and seems to be enjoying his newfound Internet fame.