Regular folks who became viral sensations
Margot Gerster is just the latest “regular” person to gain instant fame with a single social media post.
A photo Gerster posted on Facebook about running into Hillary Clinton on a different kind of trail went viral two days after Clinton’s defeat in the presidential election.
Gerster wrote that she took her daughters for a walk in her hometown of Chappaqua, New York, because she has been “so heartbroken” about Clinton’s loss.
“As we were leaving, I heard a bit of rustling coming towards me and as I stepped into the clearing there she was, Hillary Clinton and Bill with their dogs doing exactly the same thing as I was,” she wrote.
Ken Bone - Red sweater guy
The red sweater-wearing voter from Illinois, Ken Bone, briefly became a social media darling after asking a question at the second presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
His sweater sold out online as he basked in follow-up TV interviews. But some of the charm wore off when his Reddit history was unearthed, revealing some crude comments about porn and controversial opinions on the deadly shooting of Trayvon Martin — more than his new fans wanted to know.
Ken Bone - Premiere of "Doctor Strange"
Still, Bone capitalized on his internet fame by selling shirts with his face on them and reporting as a post-debate correspondent for Jimmy Kimmel. He also took a turn at the red carpet thing, appearing at the premier of “Doctor Strange” in Hollywood... with his red sweater, of course.
Hot mugshot guy
Yes, he committed a crime, but that didn’t stop the internet from swooning over “hot mugshot guy.”
Jeremy Meeks, 30, was one of four men arrested in police raids in Stockton, California in 2014. Little did the Stockton Police Department know what releasing Meeks’ booking photo on its Facebook page would unleash. In just one day, his photo garnered more than 20,000 likes, 6,000 comments and was shared more than 1,400 times on Facebook.
Meeks was sentenced to two years in federal prison for weapons violations. But this particular felon, who is a married father of three, had a new career in store after serving a year--he signed with a modeling agency.
Infamous baseball fan
Steve Bartman (seen wearing headphones) incurred the eternal wrath of beleaguered Chicago Cubs fans on October 14, 2003, when he attempted to catch a foul ball at Wrigley Field during Game 6 of the National League Championships and knocked it away from Cubs left fielder Moises Alou in the process. The Cubs, who were attempting to end their 95-year-old World Series drought, had been leading the Florida Marlins 3-2 in the series.
The misguided act of fandom turned Alou and Cubs fans everywhere against him. Alou shouted at Bartman. The crowd was incensed. The Marlins went on to score eight runs that inning. Bartman had to be escorted out. The Cubs ended up losing the game and the series. The Cubs’ curse continued.
Bartman received death threats, hired a lawyer, and has since turned down all requests for interviews to try to live as anonymously as possible.
Balloon Boy
The bizarre incident involving “Balloon Boy” began on October 15, 2009, when a homemade balloon aircraft owned by the Heene family took off from their Fort Collins, Colorado home.
The balloon had been tethered behind the family’s home when it lifted off. It was reported that the family’s two sons were playing outside when the older boy saw the younger one, identified as 6-year-old Falcon, get into a compartment at the bottom of the balloon and fly away.
Balloon Boy Early Show
The incident captured the world’s attention as it played out live on television, with the balloon traveling more than 50 miles and landing two counties away. The situation set off a frantic scramble by the military and law enforcement before the balloon finally touched down without the boy inside. He was later found hiding above the family’s garage.
But then the story unraveled and turned out to be a hoax by the parents, who were hoping to get a reality show. They were sentenced to short jail terms and had to pay restitution.
#AlexfromTarget
He became a hashtag and Target’s most famous employee in 2014. Alex from Target is actually Alex Lee from Texas, a good-looking small town teen who became on overnight sensation. As the story goes, a young woman (@auscalum) snapped his photo at checkout and tweeted it, getting the ball rolling. It took just days for the tweet to be shared more than two million times with the hashtag #AlexFromTarget.
Some suspected a stealth ad campaign by Target, which the company denied. Instead, a marketing company called Breakr claimed credit, with the CEO stating it was an experiment proving the power of the fan-girl demographic. The girl who took the photo denied any connection to Breakr and said it was a genuine moment.
#AlexfromTarget
Alex Lee’s viral fame got him an appearance on “Ellen.” He no longer works at Target, but has continued to be popular on social media. He currently has over 700,000 Twitter followers, 1.7 million people follow him on Instagram, and more than 2 million on Facebook.
Miss South Carolina
When Lauren Caitlin Upton, Miss South Carolina 2007, was asked why one-fifth of Americans can’t locate the U.S. on a map during the interview portion of the Miss Teen USA pageant, her confused, mangled response earned her international notoriety.
She told host Mario Lopez: “I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, uh, some, uh, people out there in our nation don’t have maps and, uh, I believe that our education like such as in South Africa and, uh, the Iraq, everywhere like such as, and, I believe that they should, our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S., uh, or, uh, should help South Africa and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future. For our children.”
She explained later on the “Today Show” that she was overwhelmed by the question. Who hasn’t had that happen?
Lauren Caitlin Upton
Though Upton has since appeared on “The Amazing Race,” and in many commercials and print ads for companies such as Wrangler, the attention from her pageant answer left her very depressed. She told New York Magazine that she had “some dark moments where I thought about committing suicide.”
Sign language interpreter
Sign language interpreters usually go unnoticed at events, but Thamsanqa Jantjie captured international attention onstage with world leaders during the memorial service for the late South African President Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg on December 11, 2013.
Not in a good way. He was accused of being a fake, who merely gestured enthusiastically but randomly with his hands throughout the speeches.
Deaf groups pointed out the problem immediately and Jantjie was barred from working as a sign language interpreter by Deaf South Africa. Last reports had him trying his hand at acting.
Joe the Plumber
His name was actually Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, but he became widely known as Joe the Plumber. He became famous during the 2008 U.S. presidential election when he asked then-Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. Barack Obama, about his small business tax policy. Obama’s answer, which included the phrase “when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody,” was picked up by Republicans as proof of Obama’s socialist approach to the economy. “Joe” became a Republican hero.
Republicans held up Wurzelbacher as an example of someone who would pay higher taxes under Obama. It was actually the McCain-Palin campaign that gave him the “Joe the Plumber” moniker because Wurzelbacher had told Obama he was interested in purchasing a plumbing business.
Joe Wurzelbacher
Wurzelbacher had some interesting times as a result of his instant fame. For starters, he made appearances on the campaign trail alongside John McCain and Sarah Palin.
He got an agent, did a few commercials and wrote a book, “Joe the Plumber: Fighting for the American Dream.” In 2009, Wurzelbacher spent several days as a correspondent reporting for the website, Pajamas TV, in Israel. His taste for politics unquenched, he ran for congress in Ohio in 2012 (he lost).
In 2014, it was reported that he got a union job at Chrysler. As the Washington Post pointed out, that job might not have existed if it weren’t for the auto industry bailout that Republicans reviled Obama for.
The Golden Voice
Ted Williams was homeless and panhandling on a freeway ramp in Columbus, Ohio, with a sign advertising his God-given gift of voice when he was spotted by a reporter. The Columbus Dispatch video in January 2011 showed Williams singing and explaining how he went from being a radio announcer to a life of hard times and being homeless for 20 years, when alcohol and drugs became a problem for him. The viral video ammassed more than 37 million views since it was posted on YouTube.
Ted Williams
His golden baritone voice made him an overnight sensation. The attention led to a reunion with his 92-year-old mother, job offers and a memoir, “A Golden Voice: How Faith, Hard Work, and Humility Brought Me From the Streets to Salvation.”
Though he got some work for Pepsi and Kraft Foods among others since 2011, his redemption story hasn’t all been smooth sailing. Williams started drinking again in 2011, after all the initial attention, and went to rehab twice. Despite earning a $375,000 book advance, he said he was broke and had no furniture in 2014.
He says he has been sober for more than four years. In an interview with Oprah in Oct. 2016, he said it was “too much too fast.”
Susan Boyle
The world first heard Susan Boyle’s incredible voice when she performed on “Britain’s Got Talent” in 2009, blowing away the uber-critical judge Simon Cowley. Boyle, a Scottish church volunteer, became an overnight sensation with her rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” from the musical “Les Miserables.” Though she finished second in the competition, the video of her first round performance was viewed more 60 million times worldwide in the first week.
Boyle said she was always considered “eccentric.” The instant fame and onslaught of media attention were difficult for her to take. She was admitted to a London psychiatric clinic after the final for exhaustion. Boyle was eventually diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome.
Susan Boyle
Boyle has said that on stage she feels “safe” and it helps her condition. She struggles with behavior off stage, but told Britain’s Daily Mail, “I’m getting better at dealing with it because I know what it is. If I feel I’m going to take a mood swing, I get up and leave.”
Despite her challenges, Boyle’s debut album, “I Dreamed a Dream” was was Britain’s fastest-selling debut album of all time and the second best-selling album in the U.S. for 2009. Her second album topped both British and American music charts. She has sold over 25 million albums and received two Grammy nominations.
Her autobiography, “The Woman I Was Born To Be,” documenting her rise to fame, was published in 2010.
Baltimore mom
Toya Graham, a single mom with six children, was caught on video repeatedly smacking her 16-year-old son Michael and dragging him home after after spotting him wearing a hoodie amid the rioting in Baltimore after the Freddie Gray verdict in April 2015.
That single moment made her a hero to many.
Toya Graham
Graham told CBS News that she was only concerned about protecting her son. She explained, “That’s my only son and at the end of the day I don’t want him to be a Freddie Gray.”
In the immediate aftermath, she reportedly received $10,000 through a GoFundMe campaign. According to the Washington Post, Oprah Winfrey gave her a check for $15,000 that Graham used to get out of debt and buy a car. Since the spotlight moved on, however, some other offers of support fell through. The family’s home was damaged by a fire and they have continued to struggle.