Air New Zealand: Up Front and Out In The Open

My friend Gene usually sends me these things long before I ever find them. But not this time - hah!

If you've traveled by airline at all (and who hasn't?) you've had to sit through one of those mandatory pre-takeoff safety briefings. You know, where the cabin attendants tell you things like how to buckle your seatbelt and what to do in the "unlikely" event of a water landing. Most of us pay scant attention to these briefings. Yes, yes...I know the oxygen mask bag will not inflate, and I know that the nearest emergency exit may be behind me, and for cryin' out loud yes, I know it's a federal crime to smoke in the bathroom. Heard it a million times, toots. But the FAA requires that the briefings be given, and so they are.

Airlines handle them differently. Some use a video briefing which is harder to ignore, and some of these (like Delta's) are quite well done. Southwest Airlines doesn't use video briefings, but gives its cabin crews a lot of latitude in their live presentation. I'm sure we've all heard by now of SWA's "Rapping Flight Attendant." Yawn. Look, just get me to my damn destination and don't try to make a bad comedy act out of the flight, mm'kay?

Well, now. Along comes Air New Zealand. Like all airlines these days, Air New Zealand is feeling the pinch of reduced revenue from fewer passengers and less freight. Recently, the airline created an ad campaign stressing that, unlike some other airlines, Air New Zealand had no hidden fees. Everything was all up-front and out in the open. Then they created this video passenger safety briefing. Heh-heh. Never let it be said that New Zealanders don't have a sense of humor.



Here's the TV commercial. It's done in a similar vein.



There's a story behind the new commercial and passenger briefing, and you can read it HERE.

I can't remember the last time I saw a TV commercial for an airline. None of them seem to be advertising anymore. And who can blame them? Can you imagine what their main selling point would be? "We torture you slightly less than our competition. The good news is, because we don't have any direct flights and everything connects through Atlanta, you hopefuly won't be on any of our planes long enough to notice what a crappy airline we really are."

Reportedly, Air NZ saved a lot of money on both their TV commercial and passenger safety briefing by using regular employees rather than real actors. In fact, if you watch the television commercial again, look at the :13 second mark. One of the baggage handlers is Air NZ's CEO, Rob Fyfe.

Air New Zealand. Nothing to hide, eh? Everything is out in the open, eh? Clever, that. I say, good on ya Air New Zealand!



Blooper Reel of TV commercial