Chewbacca Mom, Candace Payne, has racked up close to $500,000 in gifts and Star Wars merchandise, and today she was forever immortalized by receiving her own Star Wars action figure from Hasbro…
Never underestimate the power of social media. This is a lesson well learned by internet sensation, Candace Payne — better known as Chewbacca Mom. Comicbook.com is reporting that Payne was invited to the Hasbro headquarters, where she was presented with her very own Star Wars action figure.
Here’s the Facebook Live video she shot, while at Hasbro:
The figure is basically a Chewbacca action figure, with an incredibly detailed version of Candace Payne’s head…and it even comes with a removable Chewbacca mask.
Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner, right, unveils a custom Chewbacca Mom action figure of Candace Payne, left, during a meet and greet at Hasbro HQ in Pawtucket, R.I., Friday, June 17, 2016. Payne is known for her viral Facebook Live video post of herself wearing a Hasbro Chewbacca Electronic Mask. (Stew Milne/AP Images for Hasbro)
Payne had this to say about her internet fame and what it has meant to her and her family:
"“So the weekend after this happened, I was able to go to the Facebook headquarters, and meet an incredible and integral part of this story and this journey, and I feel like today, right now, this moment, is a second divine moment that’s happening. So, I want you, if you know how to use Emoji’s, all of you out there in Facebook live world, I want you to do the handclap for these amazing people that develop stuff that your kids have…thrown at you and played with.”"
Good for Candace Payne, good for her. I’ve seen loads of negative comments on various social media platforms, bemoaning Payne’s fame and good fortune, after posting the original Facebook Live video of her trying out the Chewbacca mask from Kohl’s, and laughing hysterically. But that’s just the unfortunate negative aspect of internet culture; the internet being the internet…in a nutshell.
For me personally, Payne’s original video lifted my spirits and left me laughing all day, on a day that had been pretty bad until I watched it. And, if that video can make one person smile and laugh at the pure joy that Payne expressed by simply putting on a mask and roaring like a Wookiee, then the world as a whole is a better place for having it.
Next: Star Wars: Episode VIII – Which Force Ghosts Will We See?
With all the recent negativity that’s had an appalling effect on our world, it’s nice to see someone getting recognized for simply making us feel better. If laughter is truly the best medicine, then Candace Payne is the doctor we all need.