The bad news about the hysterical Nike soccer streaker ad - "that image is burned on my retina" - is that it was all staged, the streaker is an actor. But the good news is - authenticity-wise anyway - is that he really did nude up for the ad and it was really cold:

Is the chubby guy eluding players and officials all over the English soccer field really wearing only a long winter scarf tossed around his neck and Nike Shok sneakers?

Yep! For four days in December, 32-year-old Mark Bowden stripped bare for up to eight hours a day in front of 500 hired extras (made to look like 30,000 by a computer), four real cops and two teams of soccer players to star in the popular new commercial.

The ad was shot at the south London stadium of Millwall, the team famous for having the toughest fans in English soccer.

....Bowden, whose previous credits include Hamlet and a Unilever soap powder ad, is happy with the final product.

"I think I look pretty good in it actually, but any man will tell you what happens when it's really cold," Bowden said. [NY Post]