Air New Zealand has created an expectation that its safety videos won’t be boring. But travellers can only handle seeing a fake plastic fish bouncing around in Bear Grylls’ backpack, Lord of the Rings gags, or a lycra-clad maniac so many times before the novelty wears off. So Air New Zealand and True have launched another new—but old—safety video starring ex-Golden Girl Betty White and a cast of wrinklies.
Safety Old School Style, shot by 8com’s Josh Frizzell, is the airline’s first safety video filmed outside of New Zealand and it’s set at the fictional ‘Second Wind Retirement Resort’ in the United States. And, as per usual, there’s plenty of pratfalling, some innuendo and a few groaners interspersed among the safety information.
American actor Gavin MacLeod, famous for his roles as Captain Stubing on The Love Boat and White’s former co-star on the Mary Tyler Moore Show, makes a cameo appearance while a cast of fun-loving retirees, including actor Jimmy Weldon, AKA the voice of Yakky Doodle duck in the Yogi Bear Show, take audiences through the safety briefing.
In a release, White says she had been exploring opportunities to work with Air New Zealand for some time.
“Air New Zealand has a global reputation for creating unique in-flight safety videos. When the opportunity came up to be involved in this project, I couldn’t say no. We had a lot of fun on set and I think we’ve shown that it doesn’t matter what age you are, it’s important to live life to the full.”
Air New Zealand head of global brand development Jodi Williams says White is the ideal partner for the airline’s latest safety video offering.
“Air New Zealand’s brand is all about liberating from the ordinary and our safety videos have proven a great way to showcase our unique personality to audiences of all ages around the world. In Betty we found the perfect partner. She is renowned for being a little bit cheeky and with a career spanning 74 years, who better to learn survival tips from than the award-winning show business veteran? As a small airline at the bottom of the world, we have to think outside the square when it comes to driving brand awareness and conveying important safety messages to our millions of customers. Partnering with influencers like Betty has proven an effective way of doing this.”
Collectively the airline’s safety videos have clocked up more than 25 million views online and have featured in coverage by global media outlets, such as CNN, BBC and the New York Times. Its most recent video starring Bear Grylls earned 2.5 million views on its official channel, plus hundreds of thousands more elsewhere.
To celebrate the launch of the new clip, the airline is giving online viewers the chance to win the trip to either Palm Springs, California or Queenstown, where winners will be forced to bath the residents of various retirement homes*. To enter, viewers need to share their story of how they are living life to the full at www.airnewzealand.com/safetyoldschool
*May not be actual prize.
