Yes, what you have just seen from the picture happened in real life with the amazing stunt performance performed by Jean-Claude Van Damme. According to Volvo’s public relations manager, Anders Vilhelmsson, “the stunt is real and is performed in just one take”. Volvo filmed a one minute and sixteen seconds video, which went viral on Youtube within one week, to portray the stability and precision of the company’s trucks by allowing the action star to perform splits on the two trucks.

However, is this advertisement a successful marketing strategy? The audience may be more awed and distracted by Jean-Claude Van Damme’s breath-taking performance than to actually focus on Volvo’s intent of displaying its trucks stability performances, until the line “this test was set up to demonstrate the stability and precision of Volvo Dynamic Steering” popped up.

Personally, I believe this indeed is a successful strategy as this video not only captured millions pairs of eyes around the globe but it also allowed Volvo to differentiate itself from its competitors. Audiences may be distracted by the stunt performance at first, but later they would realize the crucial role of Volvo’s stable steering.

See full ad: The Epic Split feat. Van Damme