May The Fourth Scores For ‘Star Wars’

The Force is strong today as Star Wars fans turn May 4 into a viral plug for the 36-year-old brand. The annual “holiday” known as Intergalactic Star Wars Day scored major pick-up on broadcast and online media for Lucasfilm and new owner Disney. The punny “#maythefourthbewithyou” and “Happy Star Wars Day” celebration/branding blitz was trending worldwide on Twitter today – not bad for a catchphrase that’s three decades old. Even the White House joined in, Tweeting to 3.4M followers: “Happy Star Wars Day! #maythefourthbewithyou (We’re still not building a Death Star)”. Disney/Lucasfilm also got a bump from the month-old geek photo meme known as “Vadering”, which picked up again in popularity leading into May 4. Lucasfilm and Disney laid off employees as the two companies integrated into their new $4.05 billion relationship. At CinemaCon owner Disney announced that new Star Wars pics will unspool each year starting in 2015. If Disney keeps with franchise history it’ll debut Star Wars: Episode VII in May, the same month in which all six previous live-action Star Wars pics premiered.