MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A little popcorn company from Memphis is getting some big national exposure from the premiere of the long-awaited Eddie Murphy film “Coming 2 America“.
Pop’s Kernel Gourmet Popcorn made it into the hundreds of VIP boxes passed out to celebrities, bloggers, and other content creators ahead of the March 5 release on Amazon Prime.
“Coming 2 America” is the sequel to the 1988 hit romantic comedy “Coming to America” and was directed by Memphis filmmaker Craig Brewer
This is the third time Pop’s Kernel Gourmet Popcorn has worked with Amazon on a movie premiere, and this time Amazon purchased 1,100 bags of popcorn for their SWAG bags.
“They just reached out to me, I think it was a couple of weeks ago, they wanted popcorn for this particular movie premiere, and it was so funny because I had just mentioned to my daughter, oh, ‘I wish they would call me because I want to do popcorn for ‘Coming 2 America’,” said Timeko Davis-Wade, owner of Pop’s Kernel Gourmet Popcorn. “And it was like two days later, bam, I get the phone call.”
Davis-Wade said they were supposed to ship their Movie Theater Style Butter Popcorn, and Buffalo Ranch Popcorn to LA the week a massive snowfall in Memphis grounded FedEx, but they weren’t about to let the snow stop them.
“My husband drove it all the way to California,” said Davis-Wade.
Pop’s Kernel Gourmet Popcorn is sold out of a number of local businesses, and Davis-Wade admits when those businesses were shuttered during the pandemic, it made them rethink the way they were doing business.
“It was in the beginning, until we learned how to pivot, and pivoting meant creating a better atmosphere on our social media and our web page,” said Davis-Wade. “So, once we started creating more on our web page, people started buying more virtually and online, and it has exploded.”
Davis-Wade said she’s already watched “Coming 2 America” twice and is grateful for the social media buzz they are getting from celebrities like comedian Tiffany Haddish, who showcased her movie premiere box on Instagram.
“The thing that was most exciting to me every time was when we saw someone on social media open the box, our popcorn was the first thing you see when they open the lid. Boom-there is Pop’s Kernel Popcorn,” said Davis-Wade.
For a look at locations where you can buy Pop’s Kernel Gourmet Popcorn just click here.