Twitter unites to save ‘Sad Dad’s’ donut shop in viral moment of goodwill

Too often in recent years Twitter has become a wild west of hot takes and takedowns but one tweet added a saccharine-sweet moment to the social media platform, in the form of delicious donuts.

Billy By took to the site to ask people to help his father’s newly-opened but struggling donut shop, Billy's Donuts of Missouri City, Texas, get off the ground. “My dad is sad cause no one is coming to his new donut shop,” By wrote, accompanied by photos of overflowing shelves, stocked to the brim with donutty goodness.

In a sickeningly sweet and heartwarming twist of fate, the tweet went viral and Twitter, for a few moments at least, banded together to spread the good word about this mom-and-pop operation in need of help.

Celebrities like Casey Neistat (1.9 million followers) and James Woods (2.04 million followers) answered the call as did Twitter itself.

By’s tweet amassed 275,000 retweets and 593,000 likes in short order and, as he announced less than 24 hours after the initial tweet, Billy’s donuts had sold out of glazed and topped donuts, cinnamon rolls, and kolaches.

The donut shop’s Instagram page now boasts over 59,000 followers and shows that, when it comes to sugary snacks at least, Twitter can unite briefly.  

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