UNC junior a finalist to intern with Charlie Sheen

In the parlance of a social media-obsessed generation, Ross Maloney is #winning.

Maloney, a junior journalism and communication studies major, is one of 50 finalists from a field of about 80,000 seeking to be Charlie Sheen’s social media intern.

Between sips from his Colt 45, Maloney — wearing sunglasses and a smoking jacket — said he has what it takes to win it all.

“I know how to manipulate my image, which is really what social media is all about,” he said.

“The key to success is TigerBlood,” Maloney added. “You either have it or you don’t — I was born with it, and I take pills too.”

TigerBlood is one of several phrases popularized by Sheen on Twitter and in interviews, and is featured in the internship description.

Maloney said he has adopted a persona based on Sheen, who has garnered attention for his erratic and drug-fueled antics involving everything from Twitter to porn stars.

“I don’t think of this as a job,” he said. “I think of it as my next chapter, and Charlie and I aren’t just on the same page, we’re on the same paragraph.”

Maloney said he is the only finalist from North Carolina, although details about the internship are hard to come by. Its website says the internship will be an eight-week paid job during the summer helping create focused social media strategies.

But Maloney is unsure of most details, including the job description, location and salary.

“I assume it’s some sort of verifiable currency,” he said, adding that he hopes he will work out of Los Angeles, living in a fortress with Sheen, mingling with celebrities and other associates of his and emulating his lifestyle.

“I’ve had to get professional help,” he said. “I have recurring dreams where I’m Charlie Sheen.”

He said he hasn’t taken the contest as seriously as others, putting a sarcastic and satirizing spin on all of his entries. But he thinks that approach will tip the scale in his favor.

His campaign manager, UNC junior Glen Dawson, agreed.

“That’s what Charlie Sheen wants,” he said. “I just can’t imagine Charlie liking these more serious ones.”

Sally Fry, who Maloney described as his own social media intern, said his chances of winning depend solely on what Sheen is in the mood for.

“If he wants someone who is serious, Ross is not the candidate for him,” she said. “If he wants someone who is going to epitomize TigerBlood, then it’s Ross.”

The first round consisted of an essay submission, for which Maloney said he simply wrote, “Like #TigerBlood, I don’t eat or sleep.”

As one of 50 finalists, he was asked to film a two-minute YouTube video answering one of several questions. Maloney chose to answer the question “How would you advise a candidate running for public office to leverage social media in his or her campaign for election?”

And although his video never specifically addresses the question, Maloney said it provides an answer by serving as a satire of political advertisements in general.

“The biggest crime in all of this is to be vanilla, and that’s what these people are all doing wrong,” he said.

In the video, Maloney greets people and dogs, kisses a baby dubbed a “mixed race baby” by a flashing animation, and drinks a Four Loko as he derides videos from other finalists. He said his mother’s favorite part of the video is the threesome scene.

“It’s not worth it if it’s not a little edgy,” Dawson said, adding that the two have also engaged in an online smear campaign, voting down other videos and sparking arguments with other finalists.

“You have to really go for it.”

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