NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Is it real or isn't it? Gillette and tennis great Roger Federer aren't saying. One thing's certain: The video of Mr. Federer knocking a metal bottle off a man's head with a tennis ball (twice!) hit the Viral Chart at No. 1 last week, with more than 5 million views.
The video, shot for Gillette and the British Skin Foundation, received a flurry of press from the AP, Daily News, The Guardian and many others. Some even made a game attempt to verify whether the events portrayed were real or a stunt. A Gillette spokesman told Mashable and others they'd rather "leave the 'real or fake' debate up to the viewers." Read: fake.
But both Gillette and Mr. Federer say the video was shot in one take. After a match at the Cincinnati Masters, Mr. Federer told the New York Times and others, "You know how it is with magicians. They don't tell how their tricks work, you know. I don't do it that much, but, yeah, it was shot in one piece and it was ?- the guy took a chance. It worked out. I'm happy."
The original upload of the video to Gillette's U.K. YouTube site garnered the most views, with a significant portion referred from Facebook, indicating a good bit of organic sharing in addition to the considerable earned media last week. Visible Measures said that while they have advised some Gillette campaigns, they didn't work on this one.
Also new on the chart this week: Dickies' first entry on the chart, Nestle's Butterfinger with a video starring Erik Estrada, Lou Ferrigno and Adam West, and Internet for Peace, an attempt to win a Nobel Peace Prize for, well, the internet.
Also: Evian's venerable "Live Young" campaign delivered another million views, sending it over the 100 million view mark since it launched more than a year ago.
Last Week | Brand | Campaign | Agency | Current Week Views* | % Change in Views** | Watch the Spot | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | New | Gillette & British Skin Foundation | Roger Federer Trick Shot | N/A | 5,123,502 | New |