Trends of the week

Twitter stalkers turn random blue-collar dudes into overnight teen heartthrobs

MANILA, Philippines - Out of nowhere and apropos of nothing, #alexfromtarget trended this week. The hashtag refers to an actual person who works at Target and whose picture went viral on the strength of millions of tweets and retweets from hormonally-charged girls (and women, and gay men). It turned out to be a marketing ploy, but the reaction was real nonetheless and inspired some spinoffs, including “Kieran from T-Mobile” and “Frankie from Starbucks” — all real people whose pictures were taken without their knowledge and soon became 21st century pin-up stars overnight.

I didn’t know this stalker-y thing of taking pictures of random attractive service crew people was totally appropriate or even had trending potential. Because I could’ve easily made that pretty cashier at Army Navy from a few years ago trend. Or a couple of tellers from two separate BPI branches. Or this improbably hot one from Metrobank. Wait, is that creepy? Is it only okay if teenage boys are involved? Oh, I should stop typing now? Okay.

‘Death with Dignity’ inspires mixed reaction

Brittany Maynard’s much-publicized physician-assisted death after an impossible bout with brain cancer was widely debated, pitting those who believe that only God has the right to take one’s life versus those who believe relieving terminally-ill people of their profound pain is humane. Physician-assisted suicide is still a hot-button issue and illegal in all but five states in the US. Debates are all well and good, but when it comes to the issue of deaths involving terminally-ill people, the only opinions that carry any meaning are of those who have dealt with these directly. After all, accusing someone of “not fighting” sounds empty if you’ve never been to the battle.

The dream of the ’70s is alive in ‘Movember’

November is the month of the ‘stache, or as it is more commonly known: “Movember.” Men everywhere are encouraged to grow moustaches and to refrain from shaving for the whole month in an effort to — you guessed it — raise awareness for prostate cancer and other men’s health concerns. Raising awareness through random, vaguely-related means is a thing now but there’s something weird about promoting men’s health through the foremost symbol of male self-neglect. But hey, why stop at moustaches, right? Let’s dust off those bell-bottoms, polyester shirts, and old Eagles 8-tracks and turn into our titos for the whole month.

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What are your top trends this week? Tweet us @PhilStarSUPREME!