Air New Zealand - Surfing Safari

Air New Zealand - Surfing Safari

Air New Zealand has once again made waves by complying with safety regulations in an imaginative and engaging way. The originator of infotainment safety videos and ‘reigning world champion’ in this developing art-form, launched a new Surfing Safari video, produced in collaboration with Sports Illustrated.

This latest video features some of the world’s top surfers Anastasia Ashley, Alana Blanchard, Mick Fanning, Laird Hamilton, Paige Hareb, Gabriel Medina, and Masatoshi Ohno, in their native habitat at iconic surf destinations in Australia, California and New Zealand. To capture images of the safetyvideo’s stars riding the waves, Air New Zeland worked with GoPro to mount its HD cameras on surfboards.

To celebrate its release, the airline launched a contest in which the big prize was a trip for two to Los Angeles, including a two hour surf lesson on Malibu Beach with surfing legend— and star of Surfing Safari—Laird Hamilton.

ANZ also used the safety video for destination marketing, and included a contest for a trip for two to Los Angeles, with a two hour surf lesson on Malibu Beach with surfing legend Laird Hamilton. Launched on May 13, Surfing Safari has been viewed over three million times so far.

Previously, Sports Illustrated and Air New Zealand also collaborated on the ‘Safety in Paradise’ safety video, shot on the Cook Islands, which also promoted the destination with a ticket contest. This earlier video featured Sports Illustrated models and generated over 5.8 million views and some controversy before the airline opted to pull it, stating it had run its course (the unlisted video has had 900 thousand views on YouTube since).