With a week to go until Force Friday II, details have emerged of the Find the Force campaign that will be running in stores and Disney Parks.

It has long been accepted that the consumer aspect of finding tie-in product on shelves in the run-up to a movie's release is just part of the whole Star Wars experience, and while leaks are unfortunately a practical reality, measures are still put in place in an effort to keep these to a minimum.

This year's promotion builds on both the first-hand experience of going into the stores or watching unboxing online to provide a more collective experience by tapping into the concept of augmented reality. Falling under the banner of Find The Force, this will be a Global event that will be held in 31 countries.

In addition to having ILM provide all of the animation for the augmented reality component, the Licensing group also worked with the Story Group to create a story architecture that will tie it to the real world.

The Find the Force promotion will comprise the following:
Scan - scan signs of five characters from The Last Jedi
Unlock - scanning the signs will unlock fifteen life-size augmented reality characters
Collect - once unlocked, the characters will reveal a data chip that includes digital content such as video clips and emojis

A new version of the existing Star Wars app will provide these new features and everyone is encouraged to update the app before Force Friday II. That being said, it is not time-sensitive, with the campaign expected to run until the release of the movie, with more than twenty retailers within the U.S. being involved in the promotion.

Lucasfilm know what the fans want, and Porgs are among those characters included, with new characters to be revealed and the humans done as holograms to protect the digital integrity.

The idea of scanning the signs and unlocking the A/R characters, is to encourage interaction, and by sharing their pictures across the main social media channels (Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter & Instagram), fans can enter a competition to win gift bags and for one lucky individual, a pair of tickets to the premiere of The Last Jedi!

The timeline for the campaign starts today with the global announcement, with the update to the app available for download as of Thursday 31st August, along with the global A/R kickoff, followed by Force Friday II which will run from September 1-3.

The promotion will also be running in the Disney Parks.

Check out the following videos to see the teaser for the Find the Force campaign, a video showing how to use the Star Wars app to scan, unlock and collect the A/R characters as well as footage of some idiot who clearly needs acting lessons (behind-the-scenes images found here)...