The Star Wars series created by filmmaker George Lucas has been a major hit since the release of the first movie, Episode IV: A New Hope, in 1977. The original trilogy was shortly followed by another, which a decade later, in 2015, is being followed by yet another trilogy that is still ongoing; the latest move Star Wars: The Rise of Skylwalker to be released in mid December this year.
The point is that since Lucas’s creation of the first movie, the concept of Star Wars has expanded from merely a piece of work by a filmmaker into an epic space-opera media franchise, adored by popular culture and recognised worldwide. If the fandom was thought to be large after the original trilogy, the last two decades have proven that populairty of the franchise can only increase, and that the demographic for its audience has become far more widespread; the brand, which Star Wars can essentially be seen as, appealing to young children and adults, as well as men and women likewise.
As with many other large fandoms such as ‘The Wizarding World’ of Harry Potter or The Lord of the Rings, devoted members or ‘enthusisasts’ often take extreme measures to show their support and appreciation of the Star Wars franchise. The latest big stunt pulled by a fan involved a tattoo of the new character ‘Baby Yoda’ drinking White Caw that went viral on social media.
The man who came up with the ingenious idea of the tattoo is a Canadian Marketing manager named Brock McLaughlin. The Star Wars fan had watched the new and popular series The Mandalorian set in the Star Wars Universe, which aired on Disney Plus in November earlier this year, and had gotten his inspiration from a scene in episode four that features Baby Yoda drinking a cup of tea.
The character of Baby Yoda has in fact been one of the biggest hypes since the series was released, with fans all over the world excited to see more of the ‘Yoda species’, and the character has been subject to the creation of memes, merchandise, and conspiracy theories since his appearances in the series. A few fans have already invested in a tattoo featuring this adorable character, with no doubt has McLaughlin’s recieved the most attention.
Instead of conforming to the screen verison’s image of the character drinking tea, he decided to replace the cup with a can of White Claw; a canned alchoholic beverage introduced in 2016. The alchohol-enhanced seltzer has gained so much pupularity and demand from consumers within the three years it’s been available in the market that it hass become an icon of the times.
Brock McLaughlin’s tattoo has rightly gained its viral social media fame as the image of Baby Yoda together with the White Claw can most definitely be seen as the epitome of popular culture in 2019 and at the end of this decade.
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