We hijacked the show and launched our own version on-line which we called Rajio Taiso version 4. To build anticipation we used twitter, facebook and mixi (Japanese version of facebook) to spread rumors that the next generation of Rajio Taiso will be launching soon. The rumour spread faster than the flu virus and caused a sensation, as we expected. We launched our fake video on YouTube appropriately on April 1. The production values, the staging, the voice-over and the piano accompaniment looks just like the real thing. The performers start their exercise routines just as expected. However, viewers would soon realize that we substituted the 3 typical on-stage performers with professional acrobat contortionists. They were soon executing movements impossible to copy, impossible not to watch and irresistible not to talk about and pass the video link on to others.

We generated 134,000 views the first day. By the 6 week mark we had 1.6 million views and its still going strong. YouTube Rewind just announced that it was the second most viewed video in Japan for 2010, beaten only by a video of a celebrity showing herself in swimwear for the first time in public. In addition to the YouTube viewings, our video was also picked up by the majority of the TV stations' news and entertainment shows, not to mention tons of magazines, generating approximately 550 million yen (USD 66 million) worth of exposure. Not bad for a campaign with a total budget of only 18 million yen (USD 216,000).