Alex from Target is the product of a social media experiment. At least that’s what a Los Angeles marketing firm is saying. Breakr CEO Dil-Domine Jacobe Leonares claimed in a LinkedIn post that his company was behind the social media hype surrounding the handsome teenage Target employee known simply as “Alex from Target”. In the post dated Monday, November 3, Leonares said, “Yesterday, we had fun on Twitter with the hashtag #AlexFromTarget which ended up to be one of the most amazing social media experiments ever. We wanted to see how powerful the fangirl demographic was.”

The social media phenomenon surrounding “Alex from Target” (whose real name is reported to be Alex Lee), began when pictures of him circulated around Twitter. According to the social media analytics site Topsy.com, the hashtag #AlexFromTarget has been tweeted 1.5 million times.

In the same post by Leonares, he claimed that Breakr initiated the trend by having a Twitter user from London named Abbie tweet a picture of Alex. However, Breakr couldn’t present any proof of their dealings with Abbie who denies any knowledge of the marketing firm.

Target also denied any knowledge about the stunt, claiming that they had nothing to do with the creation or posting of the photo. The photo was allegedly taken by a teenage girl from Texas named Brooklyn Reiff who took a snapshot of Alex to show to her friend Alanna Page. Both girls have also claimed to have no knowledge regarding Breakr.

Even Alex himself denied any involvement with Breakr by tweeting, “My family and I have never heard of this company,” and, “I didn’t know the pic was taken or tweeted until my store manager showed me.”

Update: Alex Lee says he has never heard of the marketing company taking credit for ‘Alex From Target’ phenomenon http://t.co/8ItyXgnWmD

— Mashable (@mashable) November 5, 2014

Alex from Target basically won at life. pic.twitter.com/vQijk6Zh1Y

— Menstrual Betches (@MenstruaI) November 5, 2014

Sorry but this #alexfromtarget thing is just getting on my nerves there’s so many talented people out there and he got to be on the ellen

— Leah (@Inspiredxllas) November 5, 2014

Turn my notifications on for a better chance of being followed! Fav/RT when done! #askalex #alexfromtarget pic.twitter.com/5lkAIUKWjY

— Alex from target (@acl167) November 5, 2014

Why are people giving Alex from Target so much hate? Its not like it’s his fault he’s famous. It’s our fault he’s famous.

— Lucas Korns (@LukeKorns) November 5, 2014

It is worth noting that Breakr is a small company with only a handful of employees, and their capacity to orchestrate an elaborate social media experiment such as the “Alex From Target” phenomenon has come into question.

Whether it’s an elaborate hoax or not, “Alex from Target” has invaded pop culture, at least for as long as the trend will last.