As soon as Candace Payne’s “Chewbacca Mom” video, a simple clip showing a stay-at-home mom celebrating momentary respite from her kids by way of having some fun with a Chewbacca mask, went viral it was only a matter of time before the internet stopped laughing with her. With the recent announcement that her and her kids have been offered free college scholarships off the back of her new-found popularity, that time appears to be now.
Viral video stars are typically flash-in-the-pan “success” stories in which someone with a YouTube account (or, in this case, a Facebook account) posts a video online that attracts a swelling amount of attention. They’re then usually called up by their local news station, asked to take part in a short segment in which they’ll discuss the “unbelievable” number of views they’ve received, before retrieving their money from the Google AdSense program and then more-or-less disappearing. In the earlier days of the Internet, viral video stars were pretty much guaranteed to be able to carve themselves a decent career off of this routine, using it to establish their new YouTube channels and eventually create a profitable career for themselves. However, with most of YouTube now not being as accommodating to new content creators, this is becoming increasingly unlikely.
Candace’s video was posted to Facebook Live, meaning that she couldn’t monetize the clip and has therefore received no direct financial gain from it. However, when the TV world realized that she had a certain amount of natural screen presence, an atypical characteristic for a viral star to possess considering they’re usually equipped with no media training, she was quickly booked for personal appearances on The Late Late Show with James Corden, appeared in advertisements for Walt Disney World and has even been photographed standing alongside Chewbacca (or at least a guy dressed up as Chewbacca, because – and I hope I’m not ruining Star Wars for you – Chewbacca is a fictional character) at Facebook HQ, after receiving an invitation to visit the social network’s offices by founder Mark Zuckerberg. Now after having received a wonderful selection of opportunities, Southeastern University have granted her and her children free college scholarships. This is where things look like they’re starting to unravel.
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The internet can be a cruel place, but Chewbacca Mom’s joviality helped her glide around the swirling cesspit of negativity it can sometimes be, with people celebrating a happy woman getting to do nice things. But it seems that this latest addition to the growing pile of nice things has rubbed some people up the wrong way, with Southeastern University having to close down the comments section of the video in which they offer Candace and her family their free scholarships, as a result of the negative feedback it was receiving. The video also attracted a ton of criticism of social networking sites, with people bemoaning Candace and her children receiving free tuition as a result of the video, something which the majority will never get to experience or will at least have to put a lot of effort in to obtain.
From the outset everyone acknowledged that Chewbacca Mom’s continued omnipresence in the media was a result of companies seeing her as an opportunity to advertise themselves. Most were fine with this because, as previously mentioned, they enjoyed seeing a happy woman being “rewarded” for her happiness. But bringing in free college tuition is, for whatever reason, a tipping point for many, and now it looks as though Candace is facing a backlash as a result of her having now accepted too many opportunities. It seems that while the success of Candace’s video was predicated upon her authenticity, her continued acceptance of free stuff as a result of being complicit in the marketing of these brands, is making her appear less genuine and attracting negative attention as a result.
Candace has now got a lot of cool shit to her name as a result of the video, but judging from the reaction to Southeastern University’s video, many now no longer approve of her receiving said cool shit. But hey, on the bright side, she still seems happy and above all else, she’s still got her Chewbacca mask. Isn’t that all a Chewbacca Mom needs?
Check out the video below:
