All atwitter over Liam's board
A TWEET from a member of boy band One Direction could prove lucrative for a Lennox Head surfboard maker.
During a trip to the Sunshine Coast this week, One Direction singer Liam Payne got a surfing lesson from a pro-surfer on a Wayne Webster surfboard.
The teen heart-throb then went on the microblogging site Twitter and tweeted that he loves Webster Surfboards.
Within seconds the tweet was viewed by Payne's more than 2.5 million followers and it went viral.
The hashtag #1DwebsterSurfboards quickly became the number one trending topic in Australia and the second trending topic worldwide.
The One Direction singer then messaged Mr Webster and asked him to make to shape a custom-made board for him.
From his home in Lennox Head Mr Webster said he was stunned by the publicity.
"I'm not a massive social media person but I can understand it's pretty unique, especially for someone like me," Mr Webster said.
"I'm just a guy running a small business on the North Coast."
One Direction finished third in the UK version of X Factor but since then their popularity has boomed, particularly among teenage girls.
While the worldwide publicity is a marketing dream, Mr Webster shrugged off suggestions it would lead to Webster Surfboards becoming a household name.
"I've had a lot of emails from young girls wanting Liam's phone number, but that's probably about it," Mr Webster said with a laugh.
However he did admit his Twitter followers had gone from around 50 to almost 1000 overnight.
Mr Webster said he has been shaping surfboards for 20 years and was pleased Mr Payne appreciated his work.
