Shot by November 2012 , the music video was characterised , in several MTV News interviews , as " bigger than anything we 've done before " by Zayn Malik , as " a lot of hard work " by Payne , as " pure stupidity " by Louis Tomlinson , and as " I wouldn 't say [ it 's ] comedy , it 's all tongue @-@ in @-@ cheek " by Arnell . Premiering worldwide on Vevo on 7 January 2013 , the music video depicts the band shooting different scenes via a green screen , dressed as sailors , surfers , skiers and jailers . The video features scenes reminiscent of the films South Pacific , To Catch a Thief , Jailhouse Rock and Beach Blanket Bingo , as well as the iconic music videos of songs such as The Beach Boys ' " Surfer Girl " , Elvis Presley 's " Blue Hawaii " and Rammstein 's " Mein Land " , among others .