Charlie Sheen is 'winning' the pop culture arms race

By Arienne Thompson, USA TODAY

When you're a self-proclaimed "rock star from Mars" with "goddesses" living at your "Sober Valley Lodge," it only makes sense that you'd be ruling the Internet, too.

• 

  From Twitter: Charlie Sheen and Rachel Oberlin, the first posting on Sheen's verified Twitter account.

From Twitter: Charlie Sheen and Rachel Oberlin, the first posting on Sheen's verified Twitter account.

Charlie Sheen, who has done a blitz of media interviews in the wake of the shutdown Friday of his hit CBS sitcom, Two and a Half Men, can now add "pop culture phenomenon" to his r�sum�.

Sheen's quotes, culled from interviews with NBC, ABC, TMZ and CNN, are popping up as mock Facebook status updates and serving as fodder for various Twitter accounts featuring made-up tweets by the actor. In a twist Tuesday evening, Sheen launched his own verified Twitter account with the handle @charliesheen. His first tweet: "Winning..! Choose your vice." Attached was a photo of Sheen holding a bottle of what appears to be chocolate milk with his girlfriend Rachel Oberlin.

Sheen's rants have also spawned several fan sites, and make-your-own product sites are reporting a surge on gear emblazoned with Sheen quotes.

LivetheSheenDream.com, a site started by 24-year-old Jarrett Moffatt of Winnipeg, Canada, features a floating Charlie Sheen head with a quote-generating function. With a click of Sheen's head, you get classic Sheen-isms like "I'm rolling out magic, bro" and "Your face will melt off and your children will weep over your exploded body."

Gossip blogger Perez Hilton tweeted the site Monday, and within 24 hours, Moffatt says, the site racked up more than 200,000 visitors and nearly 5 million page views.

"People have been comparing it on Twitter to Chuck Norris," says Moffatt, referring to a site dedicated to fabricated "facts" about the Walker, Texas Ranger star's strength and prowess. "Chuck Norris has been made-up stuff, but you can't make up how awesome Charlie Sheen is right now. You absolutely can't make that up."

At Zazzle.com, a customizable products company, "thousands" of Sheen products (from T-shirts with "Duh! Winning!" to baseball hats that say "Team Sheen") have been created by users over the past few weeks, and there has been a significant increase in the past few days, says Zazzle marketing director Michael Karns. Zazzle plans to reach out to Sheen to get his endorsement for an official Charlie Sheen store, Karns says: "It would obviously be awesome."

Although Sheen's meltdown has been the source of entertainment for some people and will be profitable for Zazzle, Karns says, the company is cognizant of protecting "the intellectual-property rights of individuals, including warlocks like Mr. Sheen."

Fans of the Sheen-isms say he's doing something plenty of people wish they could: say whatever he wants. Washington stand-up comedian Erin Jackson says the quotes undoubtedly will serve as great source material for comics.

"Usually, we have to write material, and when people are this crazy, they write it for us. Thanks, Charlie Sheen, for the jokes and money."

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

We've updated the Conversation Guidelines. Changes include a brief review of the moderation process and an explanation on how to use the "Report Abuse" button. Read more.

Zhang Ziyi Amber Brkich Melania Trump Freida Pinto Aki Ross