Please stretch before you ski

[ozski]

I'm not sure what I admire most about this clip. The creative marketing genius and simplicity, the fact that a guy in his 50's can do that with his legs or the choice of audio.. Its all good.

 

“The stunt is real and is performed in just one take,” said Anders Vilhelmsson, public relations manager for the Volvo Trucks brand. “It’s a daring stunt but we had full control. There was never any real danger involved.”

 

Van Damme, 53, was hooked to safety lines that aren’t visible in the film, and each foot is on a small platform that was built on the trucks’ side mirrors.

 

Van Damme’s feet aren’t secured to the mirrors, video director Andreas Nilsson said, “but we had him rigged so that if he would fall off he wouldn’t die obviously. We didn’t want to be responsible for killing the Muscles from Brussels.”

 

The stunt, meant to advertise Volvo Trucks’ new dynamic steering system, has drawn more than eight million views on YouTube since the video was posted on Nov. 13.

 

It was filmed by Nilsson on a closed-off airstrip in Spain called Ciudad Real, located just south of Madrid. Prior to filming, the production team rehearsed the stunt for three days. The final version had to be completed within just 15 minutes – from 8:05 a.m. to 8:20 a.m. – when the sunlight was just right.

 

“The film you see is the first take. But obviously we had tons of rehearsals,” Nilsson said. “The tension was really high. I saw a tough stunt coordinator swell up after we nailed it. That might actually be the nicest memory from the shoot.”

 

Nilsson said the drivers of the trucks played key roles. “What they did is fantastic. I don’t know if you have tried to drive backwards with a truck but it’s not the easiest thing,” he said. “And then [to] keep it in total control when spreading apart is very, very hard.”

 

The trucks go backward in the video because “we all know that going in reverse is a bit more difficult than going forward,” Vilhelmsson said. “We felt that would be the ultimate test, to have the trucks go in reverse with someone standing on the side mirrors performing a side split. And we knew that if anyone would be able to do that, it would have to be Jean-Claude Van Damme.”

 

Nilsson called the video an honest homage to Van Damme, “a pop cultural icon that I have had in my life since I was a kid. The spots he has been in before have looked down on him, in my opinion. I was looking up, in celebration.”

 

 

 

The new dynamic steering system combines conventional hydraulic powered steering with an electric motor that is fitted to the truck’s steering gear. The electric motor receives 2000 signals per second from the truck’s on-board sensors, allowing for more precise steering, according to Vilhelmsson. He said the steering system offers a more relaxed and ergonomically designed experience for truck drivers.

 

The “Epic Split” video is part of a series produced by Volvo Trucks that features daring stunts meant to illustrate innovations in its vehicles. A previous video dubbed “The Ballerina Stunt” filmed two trucks speeding toward a tunnel, with a woman crossing a slack line between them before they hit the tunnel. That video also went viral, getting more than 7 million views.

 

When Volvo began planning the launch of five new trucks 12 months ago, the creative team adopted a strategy of producing YouTube films that would create attention, and inform and entertain audiences, Vilhelmsson said. That would pave the way for future advertising and sales campaigns in local markets.

 

With the Van Damme video, Volvo wanted to illustrate the new dynamic steering model in a spectacular way, and reach beyond traditional markets. “We need to target not only truck drivers, but future truck drivers. Young people who are facing a choice of a future career,” he said.

 

“We know the media landscape is changing,” he said. “We have different media consumption habits today than a couple years ago. So that is why we invest in this cost-efficient way of reaching out to millions of people online.”

 

Volvo Trucks will continue to release more stunt videos, but has no more planned with Jean-Claude Van Damme at this time.

 

 

 

[Drago]

It's one of some cool videos. I'm gonna say it: Claude Van Damme could kick Chuck Norris' .....

[ForrestGump]

Van Damme is a baaaddd man.

[xrated]

damn

[klindy]

Chuck wins....'nuff said.

 

[Garn]

@klindy, I was in the process of posting Chucks video but you beat me to the punch! And yes, Chuck wins!

[ozski]

66 million views against 21 million.... Van Damme wins.

[klindy]

marketing @ozski

[Bruce_Butterfield]

Both are excellent at "Hollywood Martial Arts". Heck, even AB could look like Bruce Lee (for a second or 2 anyway) with the right camera angles, the right video mixes, and enough re-takes. But only one was an actual world Karate Champion.

 

Just to stir the pot a little:)

[klindy]

"They wanted to add Chuck Norris to Mount Rushmore but they found the granite wasn't hard enough for his beard." - Chuck Norris Facts via Wikipedia

 

Good one!