Gillette has pulled a page from the Nike social media playbook with a super viral video on YouTube featuring tennis star Roger Federer, a Gillette product endorser. The video, which features Federer performing an amazing William Tell-like feat with a tennis ball, has gained over 4.5 million views since last week. Could this sport-stunt tactic become something for the marketing textbooks?

It’s certainly effective, as seen with the video’s viral status. The video, which appears to be taken by a behind-the-scenes camera, shows Federer hitting a water bottle off the head of an employee on the set of a Gillette commercial filming set twice in a row. General discussion online has been buzzing since the video was released on August 16, as seen on the graph bellow.

One of the major reasons for its popularity is the high level of controversy surrounding the truthfulness of the stunt. It does, in fact, almost seem too good to be true. Whether it’s real or not, Gillette has been quick to capitalize on the publicity it’s causing by stirring up discussion on its Facebook page.

As you may recall, this same type of social media stunt was performed by Nike back in 2006 with the Ronaldinho Crossbar Challenge, which featured the soccer star putting on a new pair of Nike football shoes and sniper-shooting the ball off the crossbar several times. For 2006, it was extremely viral with millions of views.

So, is it real? You be the judge.