Twitter’s Ashton Effect?

So the much publicized contest between Ashton Kutcher and CNN for one million Twitter followers is an all win situation for the microblogging service. Getting The Oprah on to Twitter is merely a secondary effect of @aplusk taking on “the establishment.”

All of Ashton’s campaigning and publicity are paying off with even more users singing up to Tweet. Just now, I’ve found new IRL friends on Twitter following very few except of aplusk. Kind of an indicator, no? Is this the “Ashton Effect?”