Air New Zealand The Nicest Christmas Ever

Last Christmas, Air New Zealand ran an ad where Santa was having problems understanding the accents of kids from New Zealand and ended up sending them the wrong presents (cue - Air New Zealand cabin crew came to the rescue and gave Santa a quick lesson on Kiwi accents).

This year’s Christmas ad from the airline again shows Santa getting things wrong. Instead of emailing his ‘naughty list’ to the Elves at the North Pole, he ends up sending it to a kid in New Zealand called Elvis Anderson instead.

Elvis, who is sitting in detention class at school, opens the list and reads it. After that, Elvis and his friends decide to do something about it so that naughty kids can get presents too. They end up calling together naughty kids from all around the World, who fly Air New Zealand to join a UN style summit.

The kids from different countries sit around a table designed to look like the one from the UN security council, with each offering to do good things on behalf of the naughty kids in their country (e.g. Japan promises a “30% reduction in hair pulling”). As each one makes his or her offer, a dial on a naughty monitor starts turning towards good.

On its own, it’s a enjoyable Christmas ad. However, thanks to Air New Zealand’s choice of the naughty kid representing the USA, it has had global media exposure.

The kid, who is clearly designed to look like a mini Donald Trump, is seated around the conference table in a suit and a Trump style red baseball cap. However, instead of “Make America Great Again”, mini Trump’s hat says “Make Christmas Great Again.”

When it comes to mini- Trump making his offer, he says he is not naughty at all, but is in fact the nicest kid he knows. This prompts laughter from all the other children, a scene that directly links back to when World leaders laughed during the actual President Trump’s UN General Assembly speech earlier this year.

Just like Trump, mini Trump then responds with the line, “I didn’t expect that reaction, but that’s ok.”

More than 300 children of Air New Zealand employees auditioned to take part in the clip, with 17 selected to star as extras alongside the airline’s ground and cabin crew.

As well as Santa, “Noel” the elf from last year’s Air New Zealand Christmas video makes an appearance as well.

According to Air New Zealand General Manager Global Brand and Content Jodi Williams “From childhood memories of writing to Santa, through to the drama of a festive tech fail, the heartwarming video plays on silly season moments in a very Kiwi way.”

“Showcasing our people is a hallmark of Air New Zealand’s brand campaigns and it was fantastic to be able to share the limelight with more of the Air New Zealand family this time.”■