Romantic Gold Coast man's quest to find 'girl of his dreams' on Woolies Facebook page may be over
They say "love grows in the produce department" of a Woolies on the Gold Coast.
But it might also be growing some creepy internet stalking.
That's the criticism levelled at Woolworths and one lovelorn man who spotted the "girl of his dreams" shopping for mushrooms at the Q Centre supermarket at Mermaid Waters on Monday night.
He never approached her. All he had of the woman with raven hair wearing white short-shorts was a photo taken from afar while her back was turned.
Brok Nielsen's friend, Blake passed him the phone to answer a call and is deemed the man responsible for his friends "missed opportunity" to approach the mushroom girl.
So he felt responsible and thought he could redeem himself by reaching out to the supermarket to find his lost connection through the Woolworths Facebook page.
"I was at Woolworths this evening at 7:38pm (AEST) with my friend Brok buying fresh produce to make butter chicken when he's glanced over at the girl of his dreams," Brok's friend Blake Nicholls wrote on the Woolies wall with the woman's image attached.
"For years, you've brought people together with your sensational service, fantastic products with a catchy theme song that's kept me coming back, so now do what you do best and bring these two together," he wrote.
They even tried to get a hashtag going: #HopeforBrok.
Woolworths did not offer Brok access to the store's CCTV footage or customer loyalty card data – just a pun-filled reply.
"Hey Blake, whilst we're more interested in matching your dear friend Brok with the perfect chick-en and bay leaf to create the curry of his dreams, we still think you're a great wing-man!"
"Next time tell Brok not to be chicken, just rice up and say hello! We hear love grows in the produce department. #HopeForBrok"
Within 24 hours Brok has been deemed a social media sensation and "creep" and said he feels "sick" over the incident.
"I feel sick honestly," Brok told media adding his phone has been ringing off the hook.
"I'm literally sitting here on my laptop, I've still got to work and I am constantly getting messages.
"It's the craziest thing I've ever seen."
One of those messages held vital information from a person claiming they knew the woman, and she was married.
According to reports, the husband and wife thought it was hilarious and were considering going to Woolworths to say hello.
Brok said he would return to the mushroom section again tonight even if she was taken but is not heartbroken that the girl of his dreams is taken.
"I've had a lot of girls adding me non-stop in the past 24-hours," he told media adding that he would still like to meet someone.
The photo of the woman still remains live on the page and has been shared over 28,000 times.
As many cheered Brok on there were plenty who slammed the viral sensation as vile and called out Woolworths for being "creepy" and enabling "cyber stalking".
Can we please talk about the @woolworths creepy stalker and @9NewsAUS enabling a culture where men feel entitled to women in public spaces?
— Sunili (@sunili) April 13, 2016
@EileenShyler But oh no he has his narrative and is just so sure she fits it. Meanwhile she has another Woolworths she has to avoid.
— JP Bradley (@TheJPBradley) April 13, 2016
@woolworths enabling stalkers?! this girl is likely to never feel safe walking into that woolies again.
— Sylvia Morris (@sylvia_a_morris) April 13, 2016
Others wondered if it was an ill-conceived marketing campaign.
Guy who posted pic of the @woolworths customer hoping to meet her now has a FB page for it. Marketing stunt? pic.twitter.com/JHxCfGd2yn
— Patrick Williams (@PatrickWilliams) April 13, 2016
*Woolworths HQ*
-It's been a year since #freshinourmemories, I think we're ready to be part of a new engaging viral social media campaign— John B (@johnb78) April 13, 2016
Morning news break - April 13
