Man’s 26-item supermarket receipt goes viral for perfect alphabetical order
A man who bought 26 supermarket items – one for every letter of the alphabet – has said he hopes to “tell stories with till receipts”.
Graeme Bowman, 43, an advertising copywriter from Walthamstow, posted a picture of his receipt and a photo of it framed on Reddit, which went viral, earning more than 32,000 “upvotes” and more than 1,400 comments.
Mr Bowman visited a large Asda store in Leyton, east London, and purchased 26 items listed A to Z, including apples, carrots, flour, oranges and tomatoes.
He had to be creative to complete the full list and find items for the difficult letters, but managed to purchase a USB stick for U, an Xbox dock for X and a Zinkeez toy for Z – a shop which cost around £75.
I thought you could probably tell stories with till receipts
Mr Bowman thought about making a curated shopping list more than a decade ago after he found a “vaguely amusing” receipt which read “hair gel, hair gel, newspaper”.
“I thought you could probably tell stories with till receipts,” he told the PA news agency.
He scanned his A to Z shop through the self-scan machine, and joked that going to a cashier was possible, but “it’s just a little bit more embarrassing.”
Reddit users criticised Mr Bowman for having too much time to make a curated receipt, but he said being made redundant last year has helped him to find time to take on creative projects.
“I’ve had a full-time job for 15 years. This is one of the first times where I’ve actually had a bit of spare time, which hasn’t been particularly welcome, but I have tried to make the most of it by doing stuff like this,” he said.
Users online were impressed that each item was listed in alphabetical order on the receipt.
For instance, jam was listed simply as jam, which he said took some trial and error to ensure the item would not be listed as “strawberry jam” instead.
“I went to all the major supermarkets for things and I just looked at the receipts, and Asda is a bit of an outlier because their receipts, the descriptions are really simple,” he explained.
“It’s really handy for a project like this.”
He said the reaction to his project has been positive, with many joking the alphabet receipt is a welcome respite from current affairs.
“One person was like, ‘Oh, this really made my day’, and another person was like, ‘This is what it is all about. Let’s not worry about tariffs and stock markets, just do stupid stuff like this’,” he said.
“I’m glad that people are engaged with it, and for whatever reason, they feel like it’s a funny thing to do.
“That’s partly why I do it because the comments are always nice to see. It is just nice to know that you’ve had a little impact on someone’s life.”
The copywriter went viral for his receipts four months ago after he bought festive items, such as a turkey, mince pies and goose fat, at Asda and scanned them through to create the shape of a Christmas tree.
He described advertising as a “very young industry” and said it is difficult for someone of his age to create content which resonates with people online.
“I’m getting on especially in advertising terms. It’s a very young industry,” he said.
“I just create stuff for social media that resonates with people. It’s no bad thing when you’re pushing your mid-40s.”
Having worked in a creative industry for more than 15 years, Mr Bowman is no stranger to making quirky and imaginative creations after he proposed to his wife with a functional four-inch vinyl record player attached to a silver pendant.
“There are definitely certain times in my life where I get an idea in my head and I have to make it reality,” he said.
