Photogenic 'Carrot Man' gives up farming for modelling
The ridiculously photogenic vegetable farmer from the Philippines is hanging up his spade for a turn as a model.
Jeyrick Sigmaton's new made-over image is all the rage among fans who are delighted that they're getting a chance to see more of the 21-year-old.
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Sigmaton shot to Internet fame in February, when a passer-by posted a candid shot of him carrying a basket of carrots in a rural mountainous province where he lived. Soon after, an enthusiastic fanbase sprung up online and #carrotman was born.
On Wednesday, local retailer Boardwalk revealed it has engaged Sigmaton as its new face. It posted a teaser the day before on its Instagram page, with Sigmaton's face partially obscured by a hood.
Several people in the comments had already positively identified Sigmaton -- in no small part because of the little carrot print detail on his hoodie -- before Boardwalk confirmed it was him the next day.
Boardwalk appears to be putting in a lot of effort to capitalise on the Carrot Man phenomenon. It's engaged renowned Filipino designer Avel Bacudio to produce a collection for Sigmaton, and one of Sigmaton's fan pages on Facebook posted an early peek at it.
The picture has so far attracted 14,000 likes on Facebook and 1,700 shares.
Sigmaton himself doesn't seem to have been as active promoting his model persona on his own Facebook page, but his latest post showed him holding up signboards to the camera thanking fans for gifts and support they've sent.
From his photo series, it appears the Carrot Man fandom has stretched as far away as Belgium and Israel.
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Victoria Ho is Mashable's Asia Editor, based in Singapore. She previously reported on news and tech at The Business Times, TechCrunch and ZDNet. When she isn't writing, she's making music with her band
