My Official Invitation to The Gillette Rogue One Event
Sometimes you’re just sitting around and you don’t even realize that a dream is about to come true.
I was tweeting as I usually do throughout the day, and suddenly an email appeared offering to whisk me away to London for a few days to attend a TOP SECRET event at Pinewood Studios. No details were provided other than it was an announcement of Gillette’s global partnership with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
It was a bit hard to contain myself. We’re talking Star Wars, you know Star Wars, the film franchise that defined my childhood let alone my parenting style:
Upon receiving the invitation the very first thing I did was tell Gillette, “Hell, yes, I’ll fly across an ocean with just 5 days notice to be a part of this!”
The immediate second thing I did was scream to my wife, “Robyn, can I go to London next Tuesday without you or the kids for a Star Wars event with Gillette? PLEASE, they are waiting on an answer.”
Luckily I have the coolest wife in the world. Or should I say Galaxy? Too much? Regardless, I was on my way to London.
Back in April I had made a prediction about the plot of the Rogue One movie, I was pretty far off base:
Gillette pulled together a great team to cover the event. Prior to the event, we were treated to a VIP ride on the London Eye. I’m in the middle of the photo behind @DepressedDarth. Yes, he wore the helmet the whole time. ;) Author’s Note: The key to not getting cropped out of a photo is always stand next to someone you know would never be cropped out, ie., the guy wearing a Darth Vader mask.
From the London Eye we had an amazing view of everything including Big Ben and Parliament.
I’m not sure if it’s just me, but I’m pretty sure anytime you’re in London this is really all you can think about:
The only issue that came up during the trip was no one wanted to tell Darth Vader (@DepressedDarth) not to use the Force so much.
After a lot of fun and games it was time to get ready for the event. Here’s an exclusive video of Darth Vader getting ready.
The Gillette Rogue One event was pretty TOP SECRET. None of us knew what to expect even as we arrived at London’s Pinewood Studios
Upon arrival we were given the full red carpet treatment. I wore a brown sweater as sort of an homage to Chewbacca, but I’m pretty sure all people saw was a guy wearing a brown sweater.
Amazing guest/speaker Neal Scanlan, Creature & Droid FX Creative Supervisor, joined John Mang, VP Gillette Global and Matt Edmondson, BBC1 Radio/TV Host and gave us some amazing insight into the creative process for Rogue One and Star Wars movies in general.
Of course no Star Wars event is complete without a Storm Trooper photo opp. (I think the Chewbacca homage was also lost on them.)
The event was very lavish. Lots of great food and drink! I didn’t act fast enough to grab the Rogue One holiday gift packs (see below).
The theme of the event tied in with the theme of the campaign Gillette was launching to announce their partnership with Rogue One: “Every Story Has a Face.” Rogue One is a movie about a very important story in the Star Wars Universe (the stealing of the plans to the Death Star) and the previously unknown faces behind that story.
A big interactive part of the event involved a team of Gillette experts that were on hand to analyze our faces.
I sat with Carmelo Guastella, Celebrity Grooming Stylist.
Needless to say he found a lot wrong with me or rather ‘ways to improve my story.’
It seems that I have a very square face. My wife has told me I have a big head. I think square face has a nicer ring to it.
Also, I learned my beard isn’t long enough and I’m showing too much neck. Now I understand my difficulties dating in college, too much neck.
I also learned that I need to use less hair product and a different hair product that is less gelly, oh and the length of the sides of my face were all wrong and I wasn’t showing off my strong jaw.
Poor Mr. Guastella was exhausted after explaining all the ways I could be improved. I think this is why Darth Vader wears a mask.
Getting My Face Examined
As there was a lot of press on hand, I was able to guest on my new favorite podcast, ‘Coffee with Kenobi’ (@CoffeeWthKenobi). If you love Star Wars, then you’ll love ‘Coffee with Kenobi.’
I’m more excited than ever for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story to be released, and I’m grateful to Gillette for the awesome opportunity to be a part of such a great event.
Here are some tweets I tweeted during the event!
And finally I’ll leave you with this LIVE Periscope I did from Gillette’s Rogue One Party!
Enjoy Gillette’s awesome commercial for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story | Gillette: A Hero Prepares
And to get you excited for the Rogue One movie...
May the Force Be With You!
Jeff Dwoskin is a professional comedian, avid tweeter, social media guru, and co-founder of Hashtag Roundup