Story highlights
A woman bought a talking Chewbacca mask
The rest is one big belly laugh
This woman’s laugh is like a cool breeze blowing directly into your soul.
Candace Payne went to Kohls, as you do, and found a hidden treasure: A ridiculous $20 talking Chewbacca mask that will probably sell out on Amazon now.
The mask is really something, but the true hidden treasure here is Payne herself.
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 it had 40 million – 40 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 trillogy.
“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.