--- title: Who Is 'Alex From Target' and Why Did the Internet Make Him Famous? description: Twitter is a strange, strange place canonical: https://time.com/3554572/alex-from-target/ author: Laura Stampler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-03T16:56:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:14:18.938Z og:title: Who Is 'Alex From Target' and Why Did the internet Make Him Famous og:description: Twitter is a strange, strange place og:url: https://time.com/3554572/alex-from-target/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdbb9cd4586897f41/698763df55a85959c5a838b9/2400634.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Target Corp. Reported A 4 percent increase in second-quarter profits og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Who Is 'Alex From Target' and Why Did the internet Make Him Famous twitter:description: Twitter is a strange, strange place twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdbb9cd4586897f41/698763df55a85959c5a838b9/2400634.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Who Is 'Alex From Target' and Why did the Internet Make Him Famous? > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME The Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition The Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors. The Brief brings TIME's perspective to the day's most important stories, helping readers understand not just what is happening, but why it matters. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Nov 3, 2014 4:56 PM UTC  The sign of a Target store is displayed August 14, 2003 in Springfield, V.A. The sign of a Target store is displayed August 14, 2003 in Springfield, V.A. Alex Wong—Getty Images by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Nov 3, 2014 4:56 PM UTC For absolutely no discernible reason, the people of the Internet have turned a kid named Alex who works at Target — now forever known as #AlexFromTarget — into a celebrity. It started Sunday when Twitter user @auscalum posted an image of the random, albeit adorable, young cashier from Target: > [](https://twitter.com/auscalum/status/528956144598147073) And then the Internet went crazy. (Again, for no discernible reason). Over the last day, [Topsy](http://topsy.com/s?q=%22alex%20from%20target%22&window=m&sort=-date) reports that there have been more than 125,00 “Alex from Target”-related tweets. > [](https://twitter.com/LukeSiperly/status/529109828644257796) > [](https://twitter.com/TheDreamCIoset/status/529099024910254080) > [](https://twitter.com/GilinskysHighAf/status/529099414171025408) And since the Internet is a creepy place, it found the true Alex from Target on Twitter. He now has 312k followers and counting: > [](https://twitter.com/acl163/status/529047572464553984) > [](https://twitter.com/acl163/status/529081120076615681) There are even competing campaigns to get other cute bros (#SteverFromStarbucks, #KieranFromTMobile, #MattFromRedRobin) similar notoriety: > [](https://twitter.com/Aline%5Fkx/status/529278755479367681) Even Target itself got in on the action Monday: > [](https://twitter.com/Target/status/529298903896961025) This is the American dream. _Read next:_ [_Internet Swoons Over Convicted Felon’s Mugshot_](http://time.com/2904591/internet-swoons-over-beautiful-convicted-felon/?xid=time%5Freadnext) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3554572/alex-from-target/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3554572/alex-from-target/"},"headline":"Who Is 'Alex From Target' and Why did the Internet Make Him Famous?","datePublished":"2014-11-03T16:56:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:14:18.938Z","description":"Twitter is a strange, strange place","url":"https://time.com/3554572/alex-from-target/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Tech","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdbb9cd4586897f41/698763df55a85959c5a838b9/2400634.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laura Stampler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdbb9cd4586897f41/698763df55a85959c5a838b9/2400634.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Target Corp. 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