An 18-year-old university student from Warwick was recruited by Apple, the computer company, to make an advertisement for its latest toy - the iPod Touch.

Nick Haley, who is studying politics at the University of Leeds, was listening to Music Is My Hot, Hot Sex by the Brazilian band CSS last month when he thought it would make a nice soundtrack to an ad for the device.

He made a 30-second advert giving a tour of the iPod's features and posted it on YouTube, where it was watched 2,131 times, attracting such comments as 'That's awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!' and 'Makes me want to buy one and hack it'.

Among the viewers were employees at Apple's headquarters in California, who directed the company's advertising agency, TBWA/Chiat/Day to get in touch with Mr Haley and see if he would be interested to consult on a professional production of the clip.

“I was sitting on the bus and I got this e-mail on my phone,” Mr Haley, who got his first Macintoch when he was 3, told The New York Times.

The message read: "We represent Apple and we've seen what you have produced and we'd like to have a chat with you." At first it "seemed ridiculous and far-fetched," Mr Haley said. "My initial reaction was someone wanted to steal it.”

But he was soon persuaded that the e-mail was real, and this month was flown out to Los Angeles, where Apple "compensated him like any creative professional, for his idea and his contributions to the creative process," a spokesman for the company said.

The advert - which remains true to Mr Haley's original and ends with the song's line 'My music is where I'd like you to touch' - is already showing in the US, and is due to appear in Europe in the coming weeks.

“My input was totally respected,” Mr Haley said, adding that the experience of working with advertising executives was "overwhelming, surreal and fantastic, all in one."

An Apple spokesman declined to say how much Mr Haley had been paid, but said the company would be "making a significant financial contribution toward his education at Leeds." Mr Haley was also given several Apple products, including a Macbook Pro laptop.

The new, high definition advert - which offers a pacy tour of the iPod Touch's features, including a music and video player and internet browser, has also been posted on YouTube, and so far has been watched more than 520,000 times.

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