X

Why this 8-second video of a soda can has over 628,000 views

There's a Star Wars explanation for the brief viral video of a Coca-Cola can that is entertaining an entire fandom.

Amanda Kooser
Freelance writer Amanda C. Kooser covers gadgets and tech news with a twist for CNET. When not wallowing in weird gear and iPad apps for cats, she can be found tinkering with her 1956 DeSoto.
Amanda Kooser
2 min read
Chewbacca can
Enlarge Image
Chewbacca can

Let the Wookiee can win.

Video screenshot by Amanda Kooser/CNET

If I told you there is a video online that is a mere 8 seconds long and shows just a marker and a can of Coke on a desk, you would probably shrug and say, "Well, that's the Internet for you." If I told you that same video has over 628,000 views you would probably want to know what's so special about it. It's all about the sound.

The Coke Zero can is decorated with a picture of Chewbacca's face, his pointy teeth showing out. A person offscreen slowly pushes the can across the desk's surface, and it emits a moaning groan that would make Peter Mayhew smile. The video is titled "Cokebacca."

YouTube user Johannes Hansen published the video on November 25, and it spent the weekend gaining steam as an amusing distraction for Star Wars fan who are waiting for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" to open in theaters worldwide in mid-December.

Hansen explains the origin of the brief video art piece: "Fooling around at the office yesterday my colleague Søren noticed this funny sound from the can." He goes on to declare, "Thank god for unintentional Star Wars sounds!"

Hansen called in viral-video licensing company Flock Video to manage the short film and says he will donate any money from it to charity.

This isn't the first oddball inanimate object to emit a Chewbacca noise. The can is now closing in on the over 629,000 views of a Wookiee-groaning toilet paper dispenser and has already far, far outpaced this Chewbacca chair. The chair may win the award for most accurate Chewbacca noises, but the can wins for best costume.

(Via Boing Boing)