IT’S 35 YEARS SINCE WE FIRST VISITED A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY, AND THE LOVE FOR THE LEGENDARY STAR WARS SAGA IS STILL GOING STRONG!
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Hasbro whet fanboys’ appetites in 2011 with the release of the new Ultimate FX Lightsaber. The replica Anakin, Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker lightsabers include a realistic handle, a cool progressive light-up blade and humming / bashing sound effects. Our journalist chums just couldn’t get enough of them!The aim of the campaign was to target boys and Star Wars fans in the build up to the festive season, and the best way to get journalists to talk about the lightsabers was to get them into their hands so that they could “Feel the Force” for themselves.

The team hit the streets and carried out a number of desk-side visits to kids, sci-fi, movie and national media as well as radio drops which lead to some great coverage, including BBC Breakfast’s Bill Turnbull trying out his best Jedi moves; Gabby Logan showing off her skills on Channel 5’s Live With Gabby; and Eamonn Holmes showing a group of kids how it’s done on This Morning. It also led to a few battles with Emma Bunton facing up to Jamie Theakston on the Heart FM Breakfast Show and the magician Dynamo taking on the Kiss FM Breakfast team.To help get the lightsabers into kids hands we arranged a number reviews and competitions in leading boys magazines such as Toxic, Nitro, Transformers and Dr Who Adventures.

Here are a few words from the media:
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• The Sun: “Popular classic, with lights, sounds and more.”
• Total Film online: “Go on, you know you want one.”
• Pocket-Lint: “No more do we have to fling around an old broom handle, as this satisfies our Jedi lust.”
• Loaded: “Awesome”
• Sabotage Times: “Brilliantly close to the real thing.”
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‍The campaign generated 55 pieces of coverage, delivering over 190m opportunities to see, with an equivalent advertising value of over £650,000.