We’re just a week away from Force Friday, and Lucasfilm plans to celebrate the big event with a live global unboxing broadcast on YouTube, where different online personalities will share in the unboxing of many of the new” The Force Awakens” products hitting store shelves.
Here is the announcement and all the details of the event in a press release sent to us from Lucasfilm:
The Force Awakens Around the World:
Star Wars Fans Invited to Join Epic Global Event on YouTube
Toy unboxing phenomenon goes live globally for the first time ahead of ‘Force Friday’
Online event featuring talent from the Maker Studios network gives fans first look at film-inspired toys ahead of midnight madness at retail
Star Wars: The Force Awakens products are set to be unveiled in the world’s first ever global live toy unboxing event. Unfolding over 18 hours in 15 cities and 12 countries, the event will see highlights from the range of epic merchandise revealed in a rolling New Year’s Eve style celebration featuring top digital stars from the Maker Studios network.
“Star Wars toys have always played an important role in how our fans interact with the saga,” says Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy. “They’ve inspired multiple generations to relive the experience of the movies and to create new adventures all their own. These spectacular Star Wars: The Force Awakens products will continue that tradition.”
Kicking off in Sydney, Australia on the morning of September 3 and continuing through Asia, Europe, Canada, and North and South America, selections from the new toy line will debut to global fanfare leading up to retailers around the globe opening their doors at midnight.
“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,” said Leslie Ferraro, President, Disney Consumer Products. “We’ve seen tremendous excitement for these new products and can’t wait to see the global reaction from the Star Wars fan community.”
The Star Wars YouTube channel will host the live stream, which kicks off with the first unboxing in Sydney, Australia at 7:45 a.m. local time on Thursday, Sept. 3 (5:45 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, Sept. 2), with the grand finale at Lucasfilm in San Francisco at 8 a.m. PDT (11 a.m. EDT) on Thursday, Sept. 3. Each of the 15 locations will reveal a new product inspired by Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
These “unboxing” videos will feature online personalities sharing the excitement of opening the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens toys. Unboxing videos overall have captivated millions of Internet viewers and continue to grow in popularity. Eighteen of the top 100 most viewed YouTube Channels worldwide are dedicated to toys and toy unboxings. These 18 channels accounted for 8.1 billion views in Q1 2015.[1]
“We’re excited to be part of this first-of-its-kind initiative,” said Chris M. Williams, Chief Audience Officer, Maker Studios. “The unboxing world continues to expand rapidly as audiences around the world connect with digital creators who share their passions. This shared fandom helps attract billions of monthly views and consistently puts the genre at the top of the YouTube charts.”
The global unboxing event will incorporate traditional toy unboxers such as the popular EvanTubeHD, channels featuring families such as Bratayley, lifehack specialists such as ExpCaseros, gamers such as AlexBy11 and Star Wars fans from around the world, including Chris Pirillo, bringing with them a broad audience and appeal. The global line-up includes:
COUNTRY CITY MAKER TALENT LOCAL TIME 9/3 EDT Australia Sydney Bratayley 07:45 17:45 9/2 Japan Tokyo Einshine 11:00 22:00 9/2 Korea Seoul Dollastic 12:00 23:00 9/2 Hong Kong Hong Kong Dante Basco 12:00 00:00 9/3 France Paris AyPierre 09:00 03:00 9/3 Spain Madrid AlexBy11 11:00 05:00 9/3 Germany Berlin Reyst 12:00 06:00 9/3 England London GamingBeaver 11:30 06:30 9/3 Brazil Rio de Janeiro Malena010102 08:30 07:30 9/3 USA New York EvanTubeHD 08:30 08:30 9/3 Canada Toronto Quill18 09:00 09:00 9/3 USA Chicago HobbyKidsTV 08:30 09:30 9/3 Mexico Mexico City ExpCaseros 09:30 10:30 9/3 USA San Francisco Chris Pirillo 08:00 11:00 9/3
Several countries will join the live stream from YouTube Spaces (Berlin, Tokyo, London), with Star Wars commentators Anthony Carboni and Andi Gutierrez hosting the event from the YouTube Space, Los Angeles.
Fans can tune in to watch live unboxings at home or on mobile devices, and also enjoy the latest trailers on the upcoming movie, commentary from special guests, fun product videos and demos, and footage from recent Star Wars events.
The global celebration culminates at midnight local time, when many retailers around the world will open their doors to fans to purchase Star Wars: The Force Awakens toys, collectibles, books, apparel and more. Visit starwars.com for more details on participating locations. Additionally, select Disney Store locations around the world will take part. More details are available at www.DisneyStore.com/
ForceFriday. Fans are encouraged to document their experiences around the event on social media using the hashtag #ForceFriday.
You can check out the full schedule over at StarWars.com, and also check out a short preview video for Force Friday that was just posted.
Well with this global broadcast, it’s safe to say fans will at least have something to watch and get us excited for Force Friday as we wait in line!
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