Today, the official OBI-website www.obi.de reveals how a mysterious film clip that is raging through the internet since early October was created – and thereby gives a definitive answer to the discussions about the authenticity of the mysterious so-called 'hammer juggler video':

The clip, shot in the unique aesthetics of a home video, shows a craftsman on a building site. The craftsman jumps off a ladder, pulls a couple of hammers from an OBI-branded bucket and starts to juggle them. After a couple of standard tricks, he uses his hammers to drive a nail into an overhead wood beam… while till continuing to juggle! As a finishing move, he also drives all three hammers into the wood beam, using their sharp side to lock them there.

During the first three weeks of virally seeding the clip on German websites, the clip garnered more than 4 million viewers and spawned thousands of online discussions. Via international websites like YouTube, Metacafe, MySpace, Break, digg and others, the epidemic also reached more than 1.8 million users in the U.S, the U.K., Eastern Europe and the Benelux. The main focus of most discussions on forums, blogs and social-web-sites was the nature of the trick (real? animated?) and if the juggler is a real person or an advertising icon.

The 'hammer juggler' is the viral engine of an integrated, strategically planned communications campaign for OBI’s current promotion 'Hammer Fall'.

Hamburg, 30. Oktober 2007

›› You can find the clip here.