Nuggs please: Teenager's Twitter request for chicken nuggets gets millions of retweets

'A man needs his nuggs,' Carter Wilkinson says in a viral post

Carter Wilkerson said he started the appeal for retweets as a joke (istock/Getty)

A teenager with a self-professed love for chicken nuggets is on track to set a new world record for retweets after appealing for a year’s supply of the food.

Carter Wilkerson, from Reno, Nevada, asked American fast food chain Wendy’s on Twitter how many retweets he would need to receive a free supply for the fried meat for 12 months. They replied: “18 Million”.

After various appeals by personalities on the social network, including Breaking Bad actor Aaron Paul, a post by Mr Wilkerson asking for help has garnered over 2.5m retweets.

The re-circulation of the tweet is just behind the current world record-holding post — a photo taken at the Oscars by TV show host Ellen DeGeneres, which has more than 3.3m retweets.

The 16-year-old told USA Today: “I sent out the tweet as a joke, but then they responded with the outrageous number," he said. "I thought 'Consider it done' would be funny among my friend group. Then I put the screen shot up and it started gaining momentum.”

The teenager has announced he will make T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan "#NuggsforCarter", with proceeds donated to charity, to generate awareness for his campaign.

One Twitter user estimated that the year's supply worth of chicken nuggets would cost Wendy's around $650 dollars, while Mr Wilkerson's 18m retweets would be worth the equivalent of $72,000 in advertising.

A tweet from the Wendy's account expressed surprise at the popularity of the post, saying if was "Officially SHOOK".

The 16-year-old is still a long way from his 18m target — but it may not matter.

Chief executive of T-mobile, John Legere, offered to personally pay for Mr Wilkerson's supply of chicken nuggets, if only he switched his mobile provider to his company.