Nek Minnit skater video goes viral on YouTube

Levi Hawken, the star of the Nek Minnit viral video. Photo / Supplied

One minute your friend posts a YouTube video of you fooling around - "nek minnit" you're an internet sensation.

Skateboarder and entrepreneur Levi Hawken is the centre of attention after friend Colin Evans posted a clip of Hawken joking around while filming a skateboard video.

It shows Hawken saying: "Left my scooter outside the dairy. Nek minnit ..." The camera then tilts down to show a broken scooter.

The video has gathered more than 600,000 views in just over a month and brought the phrase - which means "next minute" - into the mainstream.

"It's still gaining traction," said 35-year-old Hawken, from Dunedin.

"Everyone thinks that I put it up and I invented the 'nek minnit' craze. It's had nothing to do with me. It was for a skateboarding video that we filmed - we did it for us and our scene, and everyone's taken it mainstream.

"I don't own it - it's just a New Zealand saying that's become popular and I had a hand in that."

He says people now recognise him wherever he goes.

"I can't even walk down the street now. I'm the Nek Minnit guy."

T-shirt maker Mr Vintage is already cashing in on the internet fad with custom Nek Minnit T-shirts and hoodies, and will be giving Hawken a cut of the profits.