At present, Star Wars: The Force Awakens has seven major global partner brands, covering industries from cosmetics, breakfast foods, and fast food to telecommunications and digital technology. These partners had already launched limited-edition Star Wars-themed products in advance, allowing Star Wars to be "armed from head to toe."
Star Wars on the face — Procter & Gamble's cosmetics brand Covergirl launched a series of Star Wars-themed makeup products, printing the Star Wars logo and several movie quotes, such as "Light or Dark, which side are you on?" on the packaging.
Star Wars on the wrist — watch brand Devon released a limited-edition Star Wars watch. The materials used were sourced from the U.S. aerospace industry. Only 500 pieces were sold worldwide, and the price was staggering — as high as $285,000.
Star Wars on the feet — the footwear industry also joined in. Adidas launched limited-edition wearable Star Wars sneakers, while the British footwear brand Irregular Choice even released shoes with Death Star heels and R2-D2 designs. These shoes also included interactive sound and light components.
Edible Star Wars — Nestlé Coffee-Mate now had Star Wars-themed coffee creamers, marketed around the concepts of the "Light" and "Dark" sides. On Nestlé's official website, the product description read: "The Star Wars-themed Coffee-Mate creamer takes the limited-edition Espresso Chocolate to the extreme — indulge yourself in the power of the Dark Side."
The Rosenberg family's Santa Fia Advertising Company also joined the promotional industry, collaborating with Lucasfilm to produce a new series of ads — "What if Star Wars characters ran for office?" They even filmed a new Star Wars "movie" composed entirely of advertisements, starring Star Wars characters like Chewbacca and Han Solo, parodying classic election ads as a tribute to Star Wars.
For example, Chewbacca and Han Solo running together echoed Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign ad "3 a.m." In another ad, Star Wars' Dark Lord Darth Vader transformed into former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, reenacting his 1984 campaign ad "Morning in America," and so on.
All activities related to Star Wars: The Force Awakens shared one principle — highlight the key points, but no spoilers!
The overwhelming marketing campaign of Star Wars 7 left almost no blind spots. With his endless stream of marketing ideas, Duke certainly didn't stop there. He even created a viral video titled "Baby Reacts to Leaked Star Wars 7 Footage." The baby's expression of wide-eyed shock instantly aroused curiosity. Once the video appeared on Instant Share, it quickly gained nearly ten million views.
Moreover, Lucasfilm also invested heavily in a full suite of marketing tie-ins for the film. On the official website starwars.com, fans could find everything news, TV programs, social communities, mobile games, and apps all perfectly integrated.
Offline, to satisfy the homebody fans, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamill the three major stars continuously attended various events to promote the new film.
Yet despite the grand or heartwarming promotional materials, not a single spoiler was revealed to the audience. Only Luke Skywalker's absence from all promotional content hinted at his disappearance, suggesting that the entire story would revolve around the search for him. This successfully drew attention to what stories each character would experience.
And who, exactly, had gloriously taken Luke's place in the promotional materials? It was none other than the film's new adorable robot star, BB-8. Although small in size, this new mascot achieved a stunning reversal, becoming the "biggest" household name in the Star Wars series.
Duke understood clearly that only by selling cuteness effectively could they reap huge profits from Asia — the massive box office market.
Such all-encompassing, focused, and teasing marketing could fully transform into the fans' motivation to rush to theaters after the film's release.
With the emotional connection cultivated among fans and the overwhelming publicity campaign — coupled with Duke's and the Star Wars brand's influence — Star Wars: The Force Awakens had North American audiences so eagerly anticipating it that it could only be described as hungry and rogue marketing.
Under such overwhelming public pressure, American kids who hadn't seen Star Wars 7 by then would hardly dare go outside.
However, the film's distributor, Warner Bros., seemed even more excited than the fans themselves. Warner's marketing of Star Wars 7 was so pervasive that searching for products bearing the Star Wars 7 logo became another social media treasure hunt craze — second only to the "Find the Magic Triangle" phenomenon.
In a Walmart supermarket, Harris Dunn held up his iPhone, snapped a photo, and instantly uploaded it to Instant Share with the caption — Look what I found: Star Wars mineral water!
On the opposite shelf, bottles of mineral water printed with Star Wars: The Force Awakens heroine Rey and the villain Kylo Ren stood neatly arranged. Harris Dunn placed two bottles into his shopping cart — not because he didn't want to buy more, but because there were simply too many Star Wars-related products. He couldn't possibly buy just one type.
Harris Dunn then pointed his phone's camera toward the opposite shelf of mineral water, snapped another photo, uploaded it to Instant Share, and took two more bottles. As he pushed his cart forward, he muttered under his breath, "R2-D2 and C-3PO Coffee-Mate — Sheldon's favorite."
When he reached the electronics section, Harris Dunn found a manufacturer holding a promotion. He hurried over to take a look but gave up on buying anything after thinking for a moment — after all, he was heading to queue for his Star Wars: The Force Awakens seat reservation next, and he couldn't possibly carry a "Millennium Falcon" electric griddle with him, could he?
As he continued forward, Harris Dunn practically took a picture every few steps, uploading them one after another to Instant Share, because Star Wars-related products were simply countless.
In the electronics section, there were also Moleskine Star Wars limited-edition notebooks — with covers, bands, and title pages featuring Star Wars elements, along with a generous pack of limited-edition stickers.
Further ahead, he saw that Haier Asia International had launched Star Wars-themed refrigerators modeled after franchise characters. It wasn't just an R2-D2-shaped fridge — it also functioned as a robot, exuding high-tech style.
Harris Dunn really wanted to buy one, but it wasn't the right time, so he decided to come back later.
However, he still picked up one item from the electronics section — Sony Electronics' "Darth Vader Edition" PS4 console.
As for the Darth Vader–shaped toaster on the opposite shelf, Harris Dunn decided to spare his wallet for now and reluctantly passed it up. Although the toaster played Darth Vader's breathing sounds while toasting, it wasn't exactly a necessity at the moment.
Leaving the electronics section, Harris Dunn passed through the cosmetics aisle, where he spotted Star Wars mascara designed in the shape of a lightsaber. He couldn't help but wonder whether applying it would allow someone to shoot laser beams.
With that amusing thought, he walked into the toys and apparel section. The first thing he saw was the Star Wars series of LEGO sets. Beside them, the display area of the Japanese clothing brand UNIQLO was packed with Star Wars-themed T-shirts, dazzling enough to make anyone's head spin.
Picking out a T-shirt printed with BB-8, Harris Dunn headed toward the checkout counter. Passing by the shoe display area, he deliberately stopped to snap several photos, then opened Instant Share to upload the pictures and captions.
"UGG Snow Boots — Star Wars theme combined with UGG's signature design gives off a kind of 'cool and cute' vibe."
"Irregular Choice's 14 Star Wars-themed high heels — infused with all sorts of Star Wars elements. I'd give the designer full marks for creativity and the women who dare to wear them full marks for courage!"
Just before reaching the checkout counter, Harris Dunn noticed oranges packaged in Star Wars-themed boxes. He couldn't help but marvel, "Star Wars oranges... Forgive me, but I fail to grasp the deeper meaning here."
After paying for his purchases and leaving Walmart, Harris Dunn walked to the front entrance, where he spotted an advertisement for United Airlines — the largest airline in the United States. The Boeing jet featured in the ad was eye-catching: its entire fuselage was covered in R2-D2 and Star Wars designs.
After snapping a photo of the ad, Harris Dunn, who hadn't driven that day, opened the Uber app on his phone to call a ride. Just as he finished uploading the photo while standing at the Walmart entrance, his Uber car arrived.
He didn't get in immediately but first took another photo — because even the car was Star Wars-themed. Its exterior had been painted to resemble a white Stormtrooper.
Riding in the car as it turned out of the street where the Walmart was located, Harris Dunn soon arrived at one of Los Angeles's busiest intersections. There, he quickly raised his camera again and started snapping away —
Because even the traffic signs had been Star Wars-ified: "Road-raging drivers, beware — you're stepping onto the path to the Dark Side of the Force!"
It had to be said — Warner Bros. and Lucasfilm's marketing campaign could only be described as downright insane.
All along the way, Harris Dunn lost count of how many photos he had taken or how many times he had posted on Instant Share. By the time he reached the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, his phone battery was already running low. Fortunately, he had come prepared with a backup power bank.
Harris Dunn had come to the Chinese Theatre to reserve a seat for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Although he already had a ticket booked online, American movie tickets almost never come with assigned seating — it's first come, first served. To get the best possible spot for The Force Awakens, he had no choice but to arrive early and queue up.
At this point, there were still five days left before the official release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens!
But Harris Dunn didn't think there was anything strange about that. The names Duke Rosenberg and Star Wars were more than enough to justify his efforts.
And when he saw the scene in front of the Chinese Theatre, Harris Dunn realized he might already be a bit late.
Hundreds of Star Wars fans had already pitched their tents outside the TCL Chinese Theatre. After receiving his tent from his online order, Harris Dunn chatted with some of them and learned that the first people to set up camp had arrived twelve days ago!
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