Levi Strauss Scores Viral Gold With Back-Flipping Jeans Clip

The hottest video on YouTube right now showcases a handful of agile hipsters effortlessly hopping, leaping and even back-flipping into their jeans.

Amateur videos of friends performing such stunts are common enough on YouTube, but this video is the work of professionals.

"We didn't want to overtly brand it as Levi's," said Erica Archambault, head of public relations at Levi Strauss, who confirmed Friday that the company is behind the viral video. "We wanted people to discover it on their own."

The acrobatic "Guys backflip into jeans" video (embedded, right) was created to promote Levi's line of zipperless, button-fly jeans.

First uploaded Monday, the video has clocked a staggering 1.4 million views this week, garnering it YouTube's coveted "most viewed" spot. It's the kind of viral hit that ad agencies and their clients have been cooking up ever since Burger King scratched out an internet hit with its subservient chicken website in 2004.

Levi Strauss worked with San Francisco-based advertising company Cutwater to produce the video, which was shot in March.

The amusing, eye-popping stunts seen in the two-minute short were done by a troupe of performers who relied on their break-dancing skills to catapult themselves into the jeans.

Archambault insists no special trickery was used during shooting. Each performer wore silk boxers and used heavily starched jeans to help complete the trick.

The video snagged a red flag by Gawker writer Nick Douglas, who pointed out Thursday that the video bore a striking resemblance to a viral video of a guy catching sunglasses on his face. That video, similarly posted anonymously on YouTube, was eventually revealed to be a marketing clip by creative teams Cutwater and Feed Company for <span style="font-weight:bold;">sunglasses company Ray-Ban.

Never Hide - Ray-Ban (video)

Advertising Agency: TBWA/Chait/Day, Cutwater, USA
Broadcast producer: Jennifer Golub
Creative director: Chuck McBride
Production company: HSI
Director: Michael Haussman
Head of production: Michael McQuhae
Director of photography: Paul Cameron
Effects & On-line facility: The Syndicate
VFX supervisor: Les Umberger
VFX producer: Kim Evans
Flame artists: Les Umberger, Kevin Prendiville, Verdi Sevenhuysen
Roto: Mike Ek
Colorist: Beau Leon
Executive producer: Kenny Solomon
Editorial services: Plank
Editor: Cathy Bull
Music: Lime
Released: May 2007

site: http://www.ray-ban.com/