A US mother's attempt to support her son accidentally resulted in the trending hashtag 'HimToo', but initially for all the wrong reasons.
Pieter Hanson, who serves in the US Navy, became an unexpected internet meme after his mother posted a photo of her son and claimed he was scared to go on dates in fear of false allegations from women.
“This is MY son," the post began accompanied with a picture of her son in his navy uniform.
“He graduated #1 in boot camp. He was awarded the USO award. He was #1 in A school. He is a gentleman who respects women. He won’t go on solo dates due to the current climate of false sexual accusations by radical feminists with an axe to grind. I VOTE. #HimToo.”
With the hashtag trending, Mr Hanson spoke to the BBC to clarify his newfound fame.
"I'm not afraid to go on dates!" he joked. "It's my mum just being a little silly, I wouldn't put too much thought into it."
While his mother's post was deleted, parody tweets started to trend online.
After the tweet went viral, Mr Hanson's brother went about clarifying the situation in good humour.
"My brother is trending on twitter because of my moms ridiculous tweet. I’m a mixture of laughing hard and feeling bad for him. #HimToo," Jon Hanson wrote on Twitter.
Eventually, Pieter Hanson created a Twitter account under 'That was my mom' and posted a photo of himself in a similar pose.
The Navy veteran figured he would have some fun with the situation after his mother's tweet.
"I was dumbfounded when I saw it, but at the end of the day we all have crazy parents," he told the BBC.
"I still love her. She's my mum. What she said was pretty inflammatory, but I want to make sure it doesn't come back harsh on her.
He also selflessly used the opportunity to help raise awareness for his little brother who was a survivor of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.
