China hopes this campaign that apes the film 300 will heighten interest in the Beijing Olympics.
It was developed by the International Olympic Committee for use internationally by broadcasters who have the TV rights to air the Beijing Olympics.
The BBC, which holds the TV rights in the UK, will not be running the promotional clip.
"We only use our promotional airtime for BBC programmes and BBC content," said a spokesman for BBC Sport. "All of our campaigns are tailored for a particular audience."Hence, this video could be taken off youtube anytime.
The 60-second clip, by WPP-owned ad agency United, opens with a bearded sage-like character gathering together an array of the world's best athletes in a temple.
"Welcome all, the time has come, all eyes are on you," he booms to the assembled throng. He then highlights each athlete's skills, comparing their abilities to God-like feats.The overall campaign, called The Best of Us, aims to highlight key tenets of the Olympic games.
"You all make us proud to be human beings regardless of race, religion or nationality," the sage says at the end. "Because if you are able to achieve such greatness nothing is unreachable. Go and amaze us."
The IOC, which makes promotional campaigns for every Olympic games, will be keen to present a good image of the event after negative media coverage around China's treatment of Tibet protestors during the Olympic flame relay.
The latest promotion, which also includes Swedish star Carolina Kluft and Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang, follows a previous advertisement, called Teens, that pushed sport as an antidote to youthful insecurity.
The Best of Us campaign also includes press and digital ads and a viral promotion called Puskitas.
(Mostly text via guardian.co.uk)
