An empty doughnut shop got a powerful dose of publicity once the owner’s son’s viral photo propelled his dad’s business to internet stardom.
People are rallying around the recently opened Missouri, Texas donut shop that just wasn’t getting any customers.
It all began on Saturday when the owner’s son, Billy By, devised a plan to get things humming: tweet a photo of his endearing father at the register with a tearful emoji.
“My dad is sad ’cause no one is coming to his new donut shop,” he wrote.
As the picture illustrated, business was clearly in a sorry state. “Sad dad,” as he was dubbed, was just waiting for people to scoop up the chocolate glazed doughnuts, Fruity pebble topped doughnuts, cinnamon rolls, and kolaches.
But he wasn’t a sad dad for long. It worked.
People on the internet had a big appetite for the saga, as his original post got 262,000 people talking about Billy’s Donuts, making a destination out of the spot.
“On my way,” Casey Neistat tweeted to his nearly 2 million followers.
Plea answered. And best of all, fans in real life have lined up by the baker’s dozen to purchase the treats prepared at 7022 Highway 6, Suite 800 in Missouri City.
“Thank everyone so much! We sold out today! We appreciate all the love and support. My dad isn’t sad anymore!” By wrote on the company’s Facebook page.
The sweet story even landed on Twitter’s radar, as the company’s official account shared its support.
“You donut want to miss out on Billy’s and neither do we! We’ll be there tomorrow morning #LoveTwitter.”
No one, not even this sad dad, is alone.
The business’s Instagram account now has 53,000 followers as of Monday morning.
Suffice it to say people are going nuts for these doughnuts. What a weekend.
Billy By did not immediately respond to TIME’s request for comment on this story.
