Force Friday
Force Friday is a Star Wars merchandising event.
The original Force Friday event was held on September 4, 2015. The event was a celebration of the release of Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens and features the release of the film's toy and action-figure line, a number of new novels and reference books that are part of the Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens initiative, and other merchandise such as cosmetics.[1]
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the Star Wars anthology film, received a Force Friday event on September 30, 2016.[2] Disney and Lucasfilm Ltd. announced the release of new toys in conjunction with its "Go Rogue" initiative, which encourages fans to create their own stories or skits in the Star Wars galaxy.[3]
A Force Friday II event was held at midnight on September 1, 2017 for Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi.[4]
2015: The Force Awakens
As part of its marketing initiative, The Walt Disney Company partnered with nine major brands: Covergirl & Max Factor, Duracell, FCA US, Pottery Barn Kids, General Mills, HP, Subway and Verizon.[5] Toys "R" Us also confirmed its participation in Force Friday, being held at all of its locations in the United States with the sole exception of stores located in Paramus, New Jersey. Visitors received a free Star Wars: The Force Awakens poster. As part of its event, Toys "R" Us held a contest with the winner offered an exclusive "Midnight Madness VIP Shopping Spree." The winner was Thomas Burns of Jacksonville, Florida.[6] Walmart also participated in the event, offering an exclusive Star Wars collectible that was previewed at Comic Con.[7]
In addition to in-store events, merchandise was also offered simultaneously online at retailers such the Disney Store and Amazon.com.[8]
Online leaks confirmed the existence of action figures for major new characters in the film, such as Finn and Rey, as well as bobbleheads of these characters and others like BB-8 and Kylo Ren.[9] On August 24, 2015, Hasbro Inc. released a catalog of its planned offerings for the event. These included character masks, various action figures, a "Battle Action Millennium Falcon", Micro Machines vehicles and more.[10]
On September 3, the Star Wars YouTube channel live streamed a worldwide unboxing event by Maker Studios. The event was broadcast from fifteen major cities, leading up to the midnight release of Force Friday products.[11]
2017: The Last Jedi
Force Friday II was accompanied by an augmented reality event from September 1-3.[12]
Bibliography
Notes and references
- ↑
Star Wars: The Force Awakens Products to Arrive on 'Force Friday', September 4 on StarWars.com (backup link)
- ↑ Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Is Getting Its Own Force Friday This September, published by Movieweb on movieweb.com (February 13, 2016) (backup link not verified!)
- ↑ 'Go Rogue' and Tell Your Own Star Wars Story in Upcoming Contest on StarWars.com (backup link)
- ↑ Disney plans midnight 'Star Wars' event to unveil 'Last Jedi' toys, published by WHTC on whtc.com (February 16, 2017) (backup link not verified!)
- ↑ With the force of ‘Star Wars,’ Disney tightens grip on toy universe, published by Washington Post on www.washingtonpost.com (August 17, 2015) (backup link not verified!)
- ↑ Toys "R" Us: Star Wars 2015, published by Toys "R" Us on www.toysrus.com (backup link not verified!)
- ↑ The Force is strong at Walmart: Company to offer a new generation of Star WarsTM merchandise at 12:01 a.m. on ‘Force Friday’, published by Walmart on news.walmart.com (July 9, 2015) (backup link not verified!)
- ↑ Sept. 4 'Force Friday' merchandise launch is meant to stoke fan fervor for next 'Star Wars' film, published by San Jose Mercury News on www.mercurynews.com (August 18, 2015) (backup link not verified!)
- ↑ Force Friday! A.K.A. Just Take All My Money, Disney!, published by High-Def digest on www.highdefdigest.com (August 17, 2015) (backup link not verified!)
- ↑ Hasbro unveils 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' toys available 'Force Friday', published by Cleveland.com on www.cleveland.com (August 24, 2015) (backup link not verified!)
- ↑ The Force Awakens Around the World: Star Wars Fans Invited to Join Global Event on YouTube on StarWars.com (backup link)
- ↑
Announcing Force Friday II's "Find the Force" AR Event on StarWars.com (backup link)
See also
- Midnight Madness, a similarly themed event held in connection with the releases of Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and the Star Wars: The Clone Wars film.