Streaking

"[I]sn't it fascinating to think that probably the only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping off and showing his shortcomings?"

—David Niven, at the 1974 Academy Awards, about Robert Opel

Streaking - running around naked - is usually against the law, sometimes hazardous to one's health (especially in cold climates) , and almost always attention-getting. There have been plenty of cases when someone goes for it for whatever reasons (often that bit about "attention-getting"). This can be on purpose as a prank or dare, but it can also by accident when clothes are missing for some reason.

Some streakers choose to show off their whole bodies, while others (especially the "by accident" group) opt for a Hand or Object Underwear. Obscurement can also be the case in the event of Scenery Censor, where it's left up to the viewers' imagination.

Don't Try This At Home, as it can become a problem with the law.

Compare and contrast Mooning, which is less exposure but more insulting to the viewer.

Examples of Streaking include:

Advertising

An advert for the body spray Impulse has the Spice Girls appearing to walk down the street in the nude. This is actually subverted as the making of the video revealed the women were indeed clothed, but the camera angles are used to create the appearance they aren't.

Film

In the second Rush Hour film, Hong Kong Police Force Chief Inspector Lee (Jackie Chan) and LAPD Detective James Carter (Chris Tucker) are forced to run in rush hour traffic, with only newspapers covering them up.

Music

The 1974 Ray Stevens novelty song "The Streak" is about a random stranger speaking with a reporter following several streaking incidents.

Oral Tradition, Myths and Folklore

From The Bible, specifically Mark 14:51-52: "A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, he fled naked, leaving his garment behind." At least one commentor suggests that the "young man" might have been Mark himself.

Professional Wrestling

The infamous Naked Mideon during the match, with JR, Jerry Lawler, Al Snow, Perry Saturn, and the referee pretty much had to same reaction.

JR: Put the women and children to bed.

Christian & Chris Jericho found themselves in this thanks to Spike stealing their towels on-the ram, with Dudley Boyz laughing at them.

Video Games

In the University packs for The Sims 2 and The Sims 3, streaking is an option both at a university and at home.
A meme from Touhou is ascribing Ran Yakumo the tendency of get randomly naked and go streaking. This form is called the Suppatenko, after a doujin of the same name that initiated the trend.

Web Animation

Many Planet Dolan True Stories contains cases where redditors even engaged or witnessing a random case of someone in the nude.

Western Animation

In the third "Treehouse of Horror" segment of The Simpsons, "Clown Without Pity", Homer is chased out of the bathtub by a possessed Krusty Doll and runs in front of Marge, who was with her sisters, Patty and Selma. The former quips:

There goes the last lingering thread of my heterosexuality.

Family Guy episode, "Don't Make Me Over" Stewie is dared by Brian to run around in the mall naked. Stewie takes the dare and yells:

Help! I've escaped from Kevin Spacey's basement!

Real Life

Streaking was a fad in the United States (and elsewhere) during the 1970s, leading to the Ray Stevens song cited above.
- In 1974, a man named Robert Opel managed to get backstage at the Academy Awards and ran nude across the stage behind actor David Niven as he was about to introduce Elizabeth Taylor. Despite Niven's quip, quoted at the top of the page, Opel briefly became a celebrity and he was even hired to streak at a Hollywood party on at least one occasion. In 1976 he even ran for President of the United States, and used the slogans "Nothing to Hide" and "Not Just Another Crooked Dick".
Beautifully inverted in June 2009 when a fully-clothed person ran across the field at an annual naked rugby game in New Zealand.
The streaking fad prompted the birth of new tradition at Princeton University, the Nude Olympics. For over twenty-five years starting in the early 1970s, the first snow of the school year was celebrated by a crowd of nude sophomores playing at various sports in the courtyard of Holder Hall. It ended in 1999 when the University, which had up until then turned a blind eye to the practice, explicitly banned it in the wake of a particularly rowdy instance that resulted in injuries and alcohol poisoning.