The Advantage of Being Attractive: Alex From Target

Like the story of how Audrey Hepburn was discovered, a lot of people fantasize about being spotted by a famous casting director when going about their day. What’s different today is the internet has made that entirely possible with a click of a button. Whether you’re on Instagram, YouTube, or Tik Tok the content you put online has the potential of going viral. This leads to a higher chance of someone important seeing it and asking you to star in their major project. Although not comparable to Hepburn, the modern day version of her story happened to this cashier at target, sending him to internet celebrity status overnight. At 16 years old, Alex became a meme known as “Alex From Target”. Despite this he has disappeared from the internet today. What happened? Were his looks not enough to keep his online followers?

Time Stamps:
0:00 Intro
1:40 How Alex Gained Fame from his looks
3:06 What does it mean to be "conventionally attractive"?
6:50 Testing an attractiveness hypothesis from the 1800s
8:20 How Alex benefited from his looks
10:28 The general benefits of being attractive
12:59 Why we think good looking people are so great
16:24 Mate selection as an advantage
19:35 What happened to Alex From Target after fame?
21:58 Self-Determination Theory

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[heckandahalf]

This was 2014??? Time is a lie. Confirmed

[trumpetperson]

Press F to pay respects to those that had their picture's used for "unattractive male" and "unattractive female" in that study.

[carterjohnson]

i've always thought the whole "story" of Alex from Target was so strange. This kid literally went on ellen simply because he was conventionally attractive. no other noticeable qualities, just attractive.

[kaufmanat]

Being attractive is like being rich... It gives you more options, not all if them are good, but it's still an advantage.

[jessmarshall]

This whole thing was so gross. Taking photos of strangers without their consent and posting it on the internet, sexually objectifying a minor, making someone go viral just because they're attracrive.... ugh. I hate all of it

[ratty]

This is still suuper creepy tbh.

Like, the dude was 16 when someone took a pic of him and uploaded it without his consent. And he became a sex symbol while 16. Without his consent

[Jess-rlsf]

I can completely tell a difference on how people treat me when going out in public with makeup and hair done vs dressed down with no make up and a bun. it’s literally night and day.

[chadhill]

As a waiter in my 20s, I always got better tips when I wore contacts instead of glasses. But I got even better tips when I wore very fitted pants. And it didn’t matter if I was waiting on men or women. The advantage was the same with both.

[bernlin]

I feel like if an older dude took a picture of a teenager girl bagging groceries, we wouldn't be having this discussion...why are women able to perpetrate sexual assault and objectification of other's bodies without being labeled "creeps"

[honeysana]

ok but imagine being the unattractive face in the baby study 😭

[majorsociety]

As someone who used to be fat and ugly and is now fit and attractive, I can say for a fact that attractiveness privilege is definitely a real thing.

[claborn]

I'm glad Alex decided to lead a normal life & pursue his real interests.

[uniraffesaur]

Honestly, the psychology behind attractiveness is so fascinating

[tooth]

If some dude had taken a picture of a girl working at target without her knowledge and put it online for thousands of other guys to simp over, it would be creepy as hell. I feel bad for Alex

Edit: Yes I know it happens to women all the time. No its not okay when men do it either. I'm just trying to put it into perspective, as most people would agree that its creepy to do to women, but Alex was kinda just expected to be ok with it

[Nonyah]

The benefits of being attractive: Everyone wants you.
The drawbacks of being attractive: Everyone wants you.

[natsumi]

"When you're ugly and someone loves you, you know they love you for who you are. Beautiful people never know who to trust."
Drax the Destroyer

[maloo]

Pakistan had its own “Alex from target” a couple of years ago. The “Chai wala Arshad Khan”. He now has a hotel in London.

[MrShyghost]

I was the ugly duckling story... Was fat and uglish until late puberty hit me and started working out... even family members said they couldnt recognize me. it actually bothered me how people treated me differently, made me realize how shallow people are... girls that wouldnt care to look at me suddenly wanted my attention and made me actually even more insecure because I knew it wasnt about "me", only how I looked... its even more rare for somebody to have been on both sides of the coin... its scary how much easier it is to be good looking when in fact as a person I havent changed at all and yet everybody treats me differently...get friends more easily, people offer me help more, im genereal people smile more around me... and actually fucks me up a bit because I know its not because of who I am because I didnt change, only how I look. We see peoples appearances and in our heads we give them a personality based on that, wich is completely wrong.

[Tpeaks]

When attractive people try to argue that being attractive doesnt give them any leverage in society, i just :')

[MissPurpur]

Man, people are literally all over me after losing weight and when I was fat, I was ignored and even pointed at by a group.of guys once. I do not like people more now that I'm more attractive. I'm just more vigilant about who to trust. That niceness people give you when you're "hot" does not feel real. I hate how naturally fickle humans are.