It's not every day you see a Stormtrooper on a Nottingham tram or in a bar so no wonder passers-by stopped in their tracks. Shoppers, binmen and bus drivers on their break halted what they were doing to see what all the fuss was about and pose for a selfie with the iconic movie character.
The reason for his appearance was to launch a unique piece of edible movie memorabilia. The Empire bites back in the shape of a Stormtrooper Easter egg launched by Nottingham's Treat Kitchen.
The confectionary company may have given up its shop in Victoria Centre but is storming ahead with its idea for 2023's best alternative chocolate egg that's sure to go down well with sweet-toothed sci-fi fans. Treat Kitchen has partnered with the Original Stormtrooper licence to create a hollow chocolate version of the iconic Stormtrooper helmet.
Designed by the in-house team in Nottingham the egg is made from Belgian milk chocolate with white chocolate decoration and costs £12. All packaging is all recyclable in keeping with the company's sustainability ethos.
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Treat Kitchen’s brand director Jess Barnett said: "The shops are flooded with egg-shaped Easter treats, we wanted to create something more exciting. What better silhouette than one of the most recognisable shapes in sci-fi history, the Original Stormtrooper helmet.
"Male gifting is not normally our target market so this could open some doors for that new demographic for us." Five years ago Treat Kitchen launched a gin and tonic Easter egg which turned out to be sell-out success
After going viral, more than 15,000 were sold and there were even inquiries from Australians who wanted to get their hands on the white chocolate egg which came with a glass flask of hard boiled sweets.
Jess said: "That was amazing, so we've got form, and we're really hoping this gets similar traction. We do have other licences coming up, which I can't reveal just yet as we're in non disclosure, but we are moving into doing more and more licence work."
A real-life Stormtrooper, aka Trent Kitchen's e-commerce manager Scott Sawyer, went on a day trip to Nottingham today (Wednesday March 1) to launch the egg. He posed by the city's iconic statues - Robin Hood, the left lion and Brian Clough, took a ride on a tram, had lunch and played games at Penny Lane, the seaside arcade bar in Fletcher Gate, and visited the Forbidden Planet shop in Friar Lane.
Trent Kitchen CEO Martin Barnett was super excited by the launch. He said: "I am a massive sci-fi fan. The Original Stormtrooper is the archetypal movie henchman, so I am delighted that we were able to team up with the licence to create this fantastic new product for fans of the movie.”
The egg will be on sale online at Moonpig, Amazon, Card Factory, Treat Kitchen's website treatkitchen.co.uk, its TikTok shop @treatkitchengifting and in Forbidden Planet shops across the country. Even before the launch more than 2,000 have been sold.
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