(Newser) – A 16-year-old from Nevada who apparently really likes Wendy's chicken nuggets is closing in on the record for the most retweets ever thanks to a random idea he decided to act upon, reports the Guardian. Last Wednesday night, Carter Wilkerson took to Twitter to ask: "Yo @Wendys how many retweets for a year of free chicken nuggets?" Wendy's responded that 18 million would do the trick. Wilkerson accepted the challenge with this tweet, which had been retweeted about 2.5 million times as of Tuesday morning. For some perspective, the largest retweet ever came after Ellen DeGeneres took to Twitter during the 2014 Oscars, with hers clocking in at just under 3.3 million retweets. Wilkerson now appears to have the second most popular tweet ever, having edged ahead of one by Louis Tomlinson of One Direction.

Still, 18 million is a tall order, and the challenge has turned the teen into "a global hero with a mission" via #NuggsForCarter, notes a post at Twitter itself. The teen spoke to the Reno Gazette-Journal when the tweet first took off, explaining that he sent his original query as a joke. The reaction has been "pretty cool," he says, with his father adding that he hopes they can work out some kind of charitable giveaway with Wendy's when the retweeting subsides. Eater points out that Wilkerson could retweet himself, but he'd have to do so once a second nonstop for about seven months in order to reach the mark that way. Meanwhile, the Guardian predicts that he's sure to show up on DeGeneres' show at some point. (Read more retweet stories.)

