Greg Heaslip wanted to take some time off work.
Heaslip’s line manager accidentally forwarded his holiday request to 3,500 staff members working at Arcadia, the retail group that owns fashion chains Topshop, BHS, and Dorothy Perkins.
#givegregtheholiday
And work for the day quickly ground to a halt as the #GiveGregTheHoliday hashtag was born.
#GIVEGREGTHEHOLIDAY #ARCADIA
@BHS_UK mayhem in the office #givegregtheholiday
Does anyone know if Greg's holiday has been approved? Edge of my seat here! #GIVEGREGTHEHOLIDAY
The joke started off as an in-joke among Arcadia employees.
An email chain at work is hilarious! A holiday request was sent to the whole head office & replies are genius. Including #givegregtheholiday
A holiday request was accidentally emailed to the entire company (1000s of people). Everyone is giddy #GIVEGREGTHEHOLIDAY #FreeGreg
Email storm at Arcadia HQ this morning. Somebody please #givegregtheholiday #bhs @BHS_UK
Office domination of #givegregtheholiday How will you vote today?
It apparently even broke someone's computer.
Greg's holiday crashing my laptop! #givegregtheholiday
The joke soon spread across the internet.
We're in the offices opposite Arcadia, so it would be rude not to back Greg #givegregtheholiday
#givegregtheholiday
Brands got involved.
Give the lad some sun! #givegregtheholiday
Greg, we're sending you this @Elemis Mens travel collection to take on your travels, enjoy! #Givegregtheholiday
Things escalated pretty quickly...
You should come and visit us here in #ValedoLobo Greg! #givegregtheholiday
And then BOOM — TrekAmerica really stepped it up and offered him a free trip to Las Vegas!
We're taking action and have decided to #givegregtheholiday. A TrekAmerica mini adventure with flights to Vegas. #GregGotTheHoliday!
And everyone pretty much lost their minds.
As if someone sent the whole of Arcadia an accidental email for Holiday request and got a free holiday to Vegas #givegregtheholiday
All happened so fast - not sure if he's going to office or the pool. #givegregtheholiday
#givegregtheholiday for those tuning in late...
And brands kept on jumping on the bandwagon.
Nice one Greg you're off to Sin City, here's some stuff to fill your baggage allowance #givegregtheholiday #Vegasbaby
Enjoy Vegas Greg! Anyone want to join him? http://t.co/5oYjSUGyyy #givegregtheholiday
Greg got the holiday, now Greg can get the tshirt. Does anyone know his size? #givegregtheholiday #GregGotTheHoliday
#givegregtheholiday Don't worry Greg about your Vegas wardrobe; we've pulled some strings & got you some freebie polos & shorts!
Arcadia later revealed Heaslip's holiday request had been OK'd before all the fun.
"The holiday request had actually already been approved on the system and Greg will get his holiday," a spokesperson said.
Some were a little upset though.
#GregGotTheHoliday My boyfriend works for Arcadia. If only he'd put in his holiday form today....,
But the real winner was Greg. True fame achieved.
Really hope #givegregtheholiday makes it onto @BuzzFeed or @MailOnline - true fame awaits! #greggottheholiday
UPDATE: Greg has now been located.
