photos courtesy of Hulu
Oklahoma City-based Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores, a family-owned and operated chain with more than 530 locations in 41 states, makes a surprise appearance in Hulu’s “Happiest Season,” a new holiday film that broke premiere records for the streaming service as the most-watched original film on Hulu in its opening weekend.
Directed by Clea DuVall, and co-written by DuVall and Mary Holland (who also co-stars in the movie), “Happiest Season” is a romantic comedy and a coming out story that captures “the range of emotions tied to wanting your family’s acceptance, being true to yourself, and trying not to ruin Christmas.”
The film, which is the first holiday romantic comedy about a same-sex couple from a major Hollywood studio, stars Kristen Stewart, Mackenzie Davis, Alison Brie, Aubrey Plaza, Daniel Levy, Mary Holland, Burl Moseley, Victor Garber and Mary Steenburgen.
Love’s Media Relations Specialist Caitlin Campbell told CStore Decisions that this isn’t the first time Love’s has made an appearance on the big screen, but it’s very particular about the requests it approves.
Have you heard the happy news? Love’s stars in @Hulu’s @HappiestSeason – now the platform’s most successful opening weekend movie ever. 👀 a thread of our initial reactions to the film. pic.twitter.com/erE8SrKQHV
— Love's Travel Stops (@LovesTravelStop) December 3, 2020
Love’s bringing couples together since 1964. We’re looking at you, @HappiestSeason.
— Love's Travel Stops (@LovesTravelStop) December 3, 2020
“This is the only movie we’ve coordinated the filming of in recent years,” Campbell said, “but we have over 530 locations in 41 states, so we may have made our way into a few things. (We were featured on Justin Bieber’s Instagram account a few times this year while he was on a road trip.)”
Love’s top priority is its customers, which includes making sure they get back on the road quickly and safely.
For “Happiest Season,” Love’s received a request from a location scout at the end of 2019 for a few scenes to be filmed — pre-pandemic — at the Love’s in Slippery Rock, Pa.
“The scenes were filmed at night, when there weren’t as many customers coming in and out,” Campbell said. “The customers who did visit during filming enjoyed being behind the scenes on a movie shoot. They watched the movie being filmed as they got their coffee and got to speak to the crew throughout the night.”
Ultimately, Campbell said, the feature was a great way to introduce those who may not be familiar with Love’s to “the Highway Hospitality that comes when they see that red neon heart on the road.”
