Air New Zealand Flies in the Face of Safety Video Convention

“Anna. It’s Reese. No, the other one. Hey, listen. I’ve written a new safety video for Air New Zealand, and I want you to be in it. It’s like a Hollywood cop movie,” Rhys Darby says from within his bathtub in “Safety in Hollywood #AirNZSafetyVideo”. With themes ranging from Hollywood to the “Hobbit” to “Men In Black” to surfing lessons, Air New Zealand has very unconventional and entertaining safety videos.

The videos the airline creates are completely bizarre. Most safety videos do not include talking dogs, bad French accents, and hearing aids, but Air New Zealand has made sure to change that. The settings do not resemble any airport or airplane. In the “The Most Epic Safety Video Ever Made #airnzhobbit” people ride everything from a horse to a giant eagle. In normal safety videos, like this one for American Airlines, the actors dress like actual flight attendants. In Air New Zealand videos, however, they pick costumes to fit the theme of the video.

The airline features celebrities such as Rhys Darby, Anna Faris, and Betty White and integrates popular songs and films into their safety videos. “Safety in Paradise” alone features Christie Brinkley, Jessica Gomes, Chrissy Teigen, Hannah Davis, and Ariel Meredith in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition (which totally seems appropriate for an airline to celebrate). The song that plays in the background is “Safe and Sound” by Capital Cities. But the familiar faces and music likely pique the interest of passengers more than the bland videos of Air New Zealand’s competitors.

Besides, the important content of the videos is not overwhelmed by the entertaining storylines. For example, “Men In Black Safety Defenders #AirNZSafetyVideo” is a parody of the film “Men In Black,” but it covers all the necessary aspects in a safety video—stowing all personal belongings, buckling seatbelts, putting on air masks, bracing against an emergency landing, finding and inflating lifejackets, prohibiting smoking, and turning off electronics. The videos simply take the information that has to be said in any ordinary safety video but change the context of the video.

Overall, Air New Zealand successfully overcomes the blandness that conventional safety videos contain, yet it still works to maintain the life-saving content. There is only one thing left to do. It’s time to fly Air New Zealand, mate.