• by Tanya Gazdik , May 1, 2022

Chewy is celebrating the “May the 4th Be With You” Star Wars Day holiday with a contest searching for pets that look like the beloved Chewbacca character from the media franchise. 

The chosen Chewie lookalike will receive a custom photo shoot and star in Chewy’s next Star Wars campaign. They will also receive items from the Star Wars collection at Chewy and the pet retailer’s personalization shop, along with framed professional photos from their photos hoot.     

That new collections includes items like a fluffy Chewbacca dog toy, a flying Millennium Falcon cat toy, The Mandalorian Grogu bed and an imperial Darth Vader hoodie.  Through May 5, pet parents will receive $10 off when they spend $25 on Star Wars items.

The first Star Wars Day celebration was held in 2011 at a Toronto theater. Since then, various brands have created activations around the event, including Starbucks, Lego and Greenpeace, which all posted on social about it in 2019. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has curtailed marketing activations the past two years. 

Chewbacca and the Wookies were inspired by "Star Wars" creator George Lucas’ dog, Indiana, an Alaskan Malamute dog. Several animals have been known to resemble "Star Wars characters," especially Chewbacca, including dog breeds like Shih Tzus, Brussels Griffons and Briards, according to Chewy.

Over 16,000 Chewy customers have named their pets after "Star Wars" characters with Chewie and Chewbacca as popular choices. The top 10 names are Luke, Leia, Chewie, Kylo, Yoda, Chewbacca, Anakin, Princess Leia, Kylo Ren and Han Solo, per the online pet goods retailer.

To enter the Chewy casting call, consumers can share a photo of their Chewie look-alike pet on social media, Tag @Chewy and then use the hashtags: #ChewyCastingCall and #Maythe4thBeWithYou. Submissions will be accepted during the month of May.