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VIDEO: Was ‘Alex From Target' a marketing gimmick?

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The Internet is now debating the origin of "Alex From Target," after a startup company claimed it was behind the photo that became a viral sensation this week.

According to a report from Gawker, the Twitter photo of an unwitting Target employee that had teenage girls everywhere blushing was part of a social media experiment, spurred by a company called Breakr.

Dil-Domine Jacobe Leonares, the company’s CEO took credit for the campaign, writing, “We wanted to see how powerful the fangirl demographic was by taking a unknown good-looking kid and Target employee from Texas to overnight viral internet sensation.”

The Target employee at the center of the photo, identified as Alex Laboeuf, denies having any involvement with Breakr. The Internet remains skeptical of Leonares’ claim of creating the campaign. See the above video report for more details.

Clint Davis is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @MrClintDavis