Candace Payne went to Kohls and found a hidden treasure: A $20 talking Chewbacca mask that will probably sell out, now that the mom’s selfie video has gone viral.
In a simple four-minute video posted to her Facebook page, Payne tries on the mask and bursts into laughter again and again. Maybe it’s her central casting-worthy chortle, or her soothing delivery or the sight of Chewbacca with a mismatched lady voice coming out of his mouth, but something about it really hit people the right way.
Payne posted the video on her Facebook page on Thursday, and by Friday afternoon it had more than 64 million views. She made the front page of Reddit, where thousands of users admired her contagious mirth. She was even congratulated by a Reddit account belonging to Peter Mayhew, the actor who portrayed Chewbacca in the original Star Wars trilogy.
“Absolutely wonderful!” he wrote.
There’s strong evidence to suggest happiness is contagious in social networks. If that is true, and it certainly seems to be, consider Candace Payne the latest patient zero.
