Air New Zealand embraces All Blacks, Kiwi charm and naked old ladies for new safety video
Given the fact that well over six million humans watched Air New Zealand’s ‘The Bare Essentials of Safety’ video on YouTube, it was always going to be a tough act to follow. But the new safety video, which launched today on its branded YouTube channel and aims to show how crazy the airline is about rugby in the lead-up to next year’s Rugby World Cup, certainly doesn’t seem to be suffering from second album syndrome.
The inflight safety video, once again created by .99 and scheduled to be shown onboard the A320 and 737 fleet from 23 August, features a star-studded All Blacks cast, a bunch of rugby-mad Air New Zealanders (some of whom are reprising their roles from the first safety video) and a whole bunch of mad rugby fans. Most of the protagonists have their clothes on this time (although there is one fairly entertaining exception at the end). And, almost surprisingly, there’s no cameo from chief exec Rob Fyfe.
From McCaw adulation to Aussie baiting and even a little bit of gay humour, all the bases are covered. There was always a chance it would be a bit cheesy, and while there are a few dodgy puns included, it’s a pretty impressive, entertaining affair, especially for something normally considered an annoyance in the eyes of airline passengers.
Embracing the Kiwi cheek, so to speak, has created a noticeable point of difference for Air New Zealand and this shows it plans to continue on this track. Almost like 2degrees, which can put a large part of its success down to making normally serious corporate telco messages entertaining, Air New Zealand has managed to get the rather dull safety message across with a bit of Kiwi charm and character that shows the company’s personality and leverages its sponsorship. So, from a marketing point of view, kudos.
Colin Green
August 20, 2010
BRILLIANT! That is the ONLY airline safety briefing I have actually watched for years! As an Aussie I am in awe of Kiwi creativity. Loved it!
Bede ashby
August 26, 2010
Brilliant video and agree with Colin's comments. I saw it for the first time this week and many of the passangers were laughing. Great work
Robyn Walshe
September 7, 2010
I've been waiting to see how you could follow the "Nothing to hide" safety message, thinking nothing could make such an impact. But this one does! Fresh, cheeky, fun – and getting the point across too. Our row decided to give it the thumbs up – definitely a 10!