Receipt with 26 items organized from A to Z takes the internet by storm with creativity and humor
A Brit found a creative way to combine everyday shopping with creativity. Graeme Bowman, 43, a copywriter from Walthamstow, decided to buy exactly 26 products at the supermarket — one for each letter of the alphabet — and shared the result in a photo on Reddit. The post went viral, accumulating more than 32,000 likes and 1,400 comments.
The purchase was made at an Asda store in Leyton, East London. Among the items were apples, carrots, flour, oranges, and tomatoes, all listed in alphabetical order on the receipt.
To complete the challenge, Bowman had to improvise: he bought a USB stick to represent the letter U, an Xbox dock for the X, and a toy called Zinkeez for the Z, totaling around $94.50.
“I thought you could probably tell stories with receipts,” he said.
The idea came more than ten years ago, after he found a receipt that simply said “hair gel, hair gel, newspaper.” Since then, the desire to create a themed list stayed in his mind.
When it was time to check out, he used a self-checkout machine, but he jokes that it would also have been possible to face a human cashier — “just a little more awkward,” he commented.
Despite some criticism from users who thought the project was an overuse of free time, Bowman sees it as a way to explore his creativity, especially after being let go from his job the previous year.
“I’ve worked full-time for the past 15 years. Now, with a little more time, I’m trying to make the most of it by creating things like this,” he explained.
Many praised the perfection of the alphabetical order, like in the case of the jelly, which he made sure to buy with a generic description — without specifics like “strawberry jelly” — to avoid disrupting the order.
According to Bowman, the simplicity of descriptions on Asda receipts was key to making the joke possible. He said he checked receipts from different chains before finding the ideal format.
The feedback was positive, with comments celebrating the lighthearted relief amid heavy news. “Someone commented: ‘This made my day,’ and another said: ‘This is what it’s about. Forget the taxes and the stock market, let’s do silly things like this,’” he shared.
He had already gone viral before with a Christmas-tree-shaped receipt, made with Christmas shopping. A long-time creative, Bowman is also known for proposing to his wife using a small functional turntable as a pendant.
“Sometimes, I have an idea in my head that just needs to come out,” he concluded.
Source and images: Indy100 / Graeme Bowman. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
