Last week, a mother’s video clip showing her hilarious reaction to trying on a Chewbacca mask became the most watched Facebook Live video ever. Kohl’s, the US supermarket that sold the toy, quickly made a follow up video, showing how brands need to react fast in a social world.
The original video showed Candace Payne’s infectious laugh and genuine joy with herChewbacca electronic mask purchase.
Posted on Facebook LIve on May 19th 2016, the video quickly generated 135 million views within just four days.
The video was not just huge on Facebook. So many people were talking about it Friday afternoon, “Chewbacca” began trending on Twitter in the US.
The video was so popular that even Peter Mayhew, the actor who brought Chewbacca to life in the Star Wars films, took notice. “Absolutely wonderful! Cheers,” Mayhew wrote on Reddit.
The video has also been a huge boost for sales, Maggie Lund, a spokeswoman for Kohl’s told The Hollywood Reporter.
“The mask is currently sold out on Kohls.com, but shoppers wanting to take part in the fun can still purchase it at select Kohl’s stores across the country,” she told the magazine.
While Kohl’s hasn’t managed to keep the unexpectedly popular mask in stock, the company did handle its response very well, sending the Payne family several more masks and a ‘treasure trove’ of Star Wars merchandise.
In a follow up video posted to Facebook on 20th May- just a day after the original video, a Kohl’s representative dropped off piles of Star Wars toys and gadgets for the family. They were also given $2,500 in Kohl’s gift cards.
“We don’t want you to have to share your Chewbacca mask, so we ‘confinsctated’ masks for everybody,” the Kohl’s rep told Candace Payne, referencing her brief confusion in the viral video about how to pronounce “confiscated.”
“We want to thank you for being a loyal Kohl’s shopper,” he told her. “We can’t tell you how much we appreciate that.”
“The whole family gets a Chewbacca mask,” Payne’s daughter declared in the clip, which was captioned by Kohl’s, “Candace didn’t want to share her Chewbacca mask. So we showed up to make sure she didn’t have to! #AllTheGoodStuff.”
While the mask is sold out in stores, some on Amazon are selling the mask, which retails at between $20 and $30, for as much as $299.95.