The Force Awakens to Feature Best Buy Product Placement on BB-8!

Gr8 Scott!! A sneak peek at the Best Buy exclusive BB-8 made by Sphero has revealed a never-before-seen logo on the backside of the soccer ball droid. Keep reading to learn all about the innovative sponsorship that has us all geeking out! 

As the mother of licensed merchandise cash cows, Star Wars revolutionized the movie industry with countless promotional tie-ins nearly 40 years ago. And it appears Disney is set to do it all over again! My cousin managed to sneak the FSW experts into a Best Buy warehouse last night. We were fortunate to get alone time with Sphero's exclusive BB-8 smart droid toy before Force Friday.

First we carefully extricated a pair of balls from their sleek yet overly large packaging. We were immediately surprised by BB-8's diminutive size. Folks, this is not a life-sized soccer droid! Unless you're a newborn, the 11 centimeter BB-8 will easily fit in the palm of your hand. 

Not a giant hand; actual size of Sphero BB-8

Upon further inspection, however, the balls revealed an even greater curiosity: a logo on their lower backs. The Geek Squad brand mark can be seen in a discreet location along the southern curvature of each BB-8.

When pressed against a wall in the warehouse, my cousin Javi fessed up to what he knew. BB-8 was co-created by Best Buy as the posterdroid for a long-term sponsorship between Disney and the electronics retailer. Apparently the BB stands for Best Buy, though the jury is still out on what the 8 represents.

"But then where is the Best Buy logo?" My cousin claims the color scheme on BB-8 was chosen to best complement Geek Squad's mark. Best Buy wants BB-8 to be their tech service company's flagship mascot alongside the iconic cars and stereotypical dork uniforms worn by employees.

This wasn't the only revelation from last night. After some more idle threats, Javi told us about BB-8's secret modes. Not only does he have an Escape mode, wherein BB-8 turtles up, lowering its head into its tuckus for greater mobility, the soccer droid also sports a super secret mode known as Geek mode. When activated, BB-8 can project a hologram of a Geek Squad employee up to 10 feet away. The ball droid has a library of pre-recorded tech assistance videos to pull from, depending on the situation at hand.

JJ Abrams testing out BB-8's Geek mode

Javi tells us BB-8's Geek mode plays a pivotal role during Act 3 of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. But don't be fooled by the "effects" we've described. This is entirely practical. No CG whatsoever. The same projection you see in the film can be recreated with a Sphero BB-8 unit -- and not just for Geek Squad assistance videos. You can project whatever video clips you want! Prepare for lots and lots of random "Save me Obi-Wan, you're my only hope" projections to appear in the near future.

In hindsight, this partnership makes perfect sense. FSW went back and carefully examined the retro trading cards released by Entertainment Weekly months ago. Sure enough, there's the Geek Squad car in the top left corner. That sneaky JJ!

The overlooked Geek Squad vehicle can be seen in the background

Now you're probably wondering why you should buy the Sphero BB-8 at Best Buy instead of other retailers on Force Friday? For one, my cousin will likely keep his job if this sucker sells. For two, the exclusive Best Buy version is the only one that offers built-in Geek mode. For three, they've sweetened the deal even more -- anyone who purchases a Sphero BB-8 at Best Buy will receive a year's worth of Geek Squad protection on the droid AND any other ONE electronic purchase made at the retailer from now until March of 2016. Ain't it cool? (Shout out to my cousin Harry!)

Maisie Richardson-Sellers and Adam Driver will promote the Best Buy exclusive

It gets even better! Geek Squad employees will sport TFA BB-8 badges and arrive at service calls with a custom droid designed for maximum geek. These super limited-edition BB-8's will be full sized and open up to reveal a toolkit for Geek Squad field operatives along with a fun replica of Anakin's lightsaber, which doubles as a 4tb USB drive.

BB-8 and Driver

Needless to say, we're pumped about the Best Buy/Disney partnership as are the Geek Squad employees. My cousin claims they've even taken to calling themselves the Knights of Ren!

Geek on fleek thanks to BB-8

You know where we'll be on Force Friday! That's right... as far away from Best Buy as humanly possible. (Sorry, Javi!) No amount of BB-8 droid is worth losing a limb over. But if you brave the crowds, please tell them FSW sent ya!

 

Geek Squad rollin' deep on Jakku