Last month we wrote about David Rosen’s nicely designed placeholder Web site for his novel I Just Want My Pants Back. The full site is now finished and David has introduced a very innovative feature that allows you to customize a video message that can be emailed to anyone.

The theme of the video message is a twist on the book’s title. From a drop down menu you select a variety of options, such as “I just want my book back” to much more humorous options. Then there are mood options, such as “I am sorry. Okay? Now give me back my stuff.” From your selections is created a composite video of an actor asking, uh, demanding, on your behalf that your stuff be returned. You have to see it for yourself.

David already had an interesting book trailer on his site. The custom video creates a new opportunity for generating buzz about a book. As David admits, it’s an attempt at creating a viral video. If it catches on, then it spreads awareness about his novel. The custom options give users something to play around with and the videos are funny, so it might catch on. And people who like the sense of humor in the video might very well like the book. That’s the idea.