As it prepares for its upcoming film Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars and Disney have launched the world's first live-stream unboxing event ahead of a global retail push named “Force Friday”.
The event taps into the global phenomenon of “unboxing” which is where a user films the opening boxes of toys or gadgets and uploads it to YouTube. The fad sees a plethora of brands thrust into the limelight including Tinder, Playdoh and Disney.
For the event, merchandise from the new films are unveiled over 18 hours, in 15 cities and 12 countries. It is hosted on the Star Wars YouTube Channel from today, with digital stars from short form video company Maker Studios network.
The event kicked off in Sydney this morning and will continue through Asia, Europe, Canada, and both North and South America.
In Sydney, internet family the Bratayley's kicked off the global event with a live unboxing at Mrs Macquarie's Chair.
Disney consumer products president Leslie Ferraro said the 'unboxing' will help build global excitment for the new products.
“Over the course of 18 hours, some of Maker Studios' biggest stars will each be unboxing a new toy from the Star Wars: The Force Awakens product line in a different city around the world and sharing the experience live on YouTube,” Ferraro said
“We've seen tremendous excitement for these new products and can't wait to see the global reaction from the Star Wars fan community.”
Following the unboxing there will be a mega-retail event “Force Friday” which will see store around the world open their doors at midnight for consumers to pick up film-inspired products.
In Australia six Target Stores and 16 Toys R Us stores will open to fans at midnight with fans encouraged to document their experiences around the event using the hashtag #ForceFriday.
In addition at 6.30pm tonight the Bratayley family will be at Westfield Parramatta to meet fans ahead of #ForceFriday.
“Star Wars toys have always played an important role in how our fans interact with the saga,” Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said.
“They've inspired multiple generations to relive the experience of the movies and to create new adventures all on their own. These speculator Star Wars: Force Awakens products will continue that tradition.
Unboxing has been a popular YouTube phenomenon over the last several years. Videos of unboxing from some YouTube channels such as FunToyzCollector have gathered more than 300 million views.
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