Has Air New Zealand jumped the safety video shark?

“Jumping the shark” is a phrase used when a TV series is past its peak and the creators think of ever more outlandish gimmicks to keep viewers hooked.

It originally comes from an episode of the TV show Happy Days, where Fonzie jumps over some sharks while on water-skis.

Air New Zealand has arguably jumped the shark when it comes to safety videos. The airline of course invented the whole idea of making safety videos entertaining and using them as marketing tools.

As far back as 2012, SimpliFlying CEO and founder Shashank Nigam wrote,

“Air New Zealand has taken the same videos and turned them from what people ignored in-flight to something people watch at home on Youtube. Many times over."

And over the years, Air New Zealand has cranked outhit after hit, each racking up millions of views.

However, recently things haven’t gone totally Air NewZealand’s way. For a start, other airlines have long since latched onto the fact that safety videos can work as great pieces of branded content that are shared far and wide.

For example, just today while writing this, Turkish Airlines announced a sequel to its 2018 safety video featuring the LEGO Movie Characters - the original has so far been viewed over 28 million times..

So with the bar being raised ever higher, it has looked as if Air New Zealand was going to ever greater lengths to prove it was still the King and Queen of the genre.

Hence the airline boasted that the last safety video ‘It’s Kiwi Safety’, released in November, was the largest it ever produced, featuring a 600-strong cast.

That video takes the form of a rap and is backed by a remake of the popular RUN- DMC song It’s Tricky.

The whole thing looked like it wanted to make a point. Back off: Safety videos are ours.

The same thought seemed to be behind a LinkedIn post that the airline released in early February, advertising for a “head of Airline safety

It was also a statement - while you get your ad agency to dream up safety videos in between all the other stuff they do, we will have someone thinking about safety videos 24/7.

Crucially though, the ad alluded to the fact that ‘It’s Kiwi Safety’ was not universally well received, and many viewers found it confusing.

As the Drum reports, that video has now been withdrawn on flights and replaced with a 2016 safety video called ‘Summer of Safety.’

And we’re not alone wondering what’s happened with the airline’s safety videos. No less than the NZ Herald posted a piece headlined - “Air NZ’s safety videos stink. Here’s how to fix them.”

Though written largely in a joking fashion by the Herald’s senior entertainment writer, Karl Puschmann, the piece did end with the words: “In true showbiz fashion I’ve saved the best idea till last. Just, like, stop making them. Please.” Ouch.

Is it time to discover the next big thing?

Actually we don’t agree that Air New Zealand should stop making them. There is still a role in safety videos as a piece of airline branding.

We do however think Air New Zealand should stop trying to compete.

When you have another airline that commissions an Oscar winning director to make a short film for the Super Bowl and then follows all that up with a LEGO Movie safety video…..well….you will never really compete.

Air New Zealand has owned the genre, its been around for a while now, everyone else is getting in on the act. So find something else and make it yours.

In the meantime, the two+ year old ‘Summer of Safety’ video Air New Zealand is running right now probably gets it right.

Starring Rachel Hunter, it certainly doesn’t look cheap. It’s fun, watchable, and works as great destination video.

It does all this, without being over the top.

It doesn’t try to be the greatest, or the funniest, or the best, or the one with the biggest cast. You just enjoy it on its own merits as a good piece of content.

So, over to you Air New Zealand. You revolutionised safety videos. We’re keen to see what you come up with next.