Air New Zealand highlights Māori culture and values in new safety video via Flying Fish
As New Zealand reopens to the world, Araraurangi Air New Zealand has launched a new safety video via Flying Fish, and this time it’s the story of the Tiaki Promise. A promise that encourages both New Zealanders and international visitors to care for our place, our culture and our people.
The story follows Tiaki, a young man who boards a waka rererangi (flying canoe) and sets off on an adventure across Aotearoa. With the help of Air New Zealand and Julie (a character that embodies the rest of New Zealand), he visits four Māori guardians including Papatūānuku (the land), Tangaroa (sea), Tāne Mahuta (forest) and Ranginui (sky). Along the way he seeks advice from these guardians on how better to look after them.
Air New Zealand general manager brand and marketing Jeremy O’Brien says as people start to return to Aotearoa, this safety video is an invitation to them to act as guardians while they’re here: “We want tourism to build back better than it was before and part of that is to share with our visitors a sense of kaitiaki – to encourage them to act like guardians of our country. Our safety videos are world renowned and through them, we have an opportunity to educate and inspire ourselves, our customers and Aotearoa on the importance of Tiaki and everything it stands for. It’s about being good hosts, and good visitors.
“Julie’s character in the safety video is there to show that caring for New Zealand isn’t something Tiaki can do alone. It requires all of us to follow the Promise and commit to protecting Aotearoa for future generations to come.
“I’d like to thank Pou Tikanga and storyteller, Joe Harawira, New Zealand Māori Tourism and the New Zealand Māori Arts & Crafts Institute for guiding us, right from concept to the building of the waka, and the cultural formalities we followed throughout. The collaborative effort has helped us share this story and the principles of Tiaki authentically.”
The airline worked closely with the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute to design the waka and its carvings. From there it was taken to the various filming locations and flown on wires to create real shadows and textures for post-production.
Cutting-edge LED stage screens, used in The Mandalorian TV series, helped to bring the legends of Māori culture to life, and it was this motion technology that created a seamless shift from the real world to the fantastical.
Tiaki and the Guardians will be rolled out across Air New Zealand’s international and domestic fleet from Monday, 9 May 2022.
Production Company: Flying Fish
13 Comments
Safety videos are mandatory viewing. Your staff make everyone watch it. If you’re going to do that then have the decency to get it out of the way as quickly as possible. This is a 5 minute ad (and a bit shit at that), and no one should be forced to watch it.
The purpose of a safety video is to demonstrate things that relate to safety while you’re on board. If you can’t inform a passenger of everything within 90 seconds I think we have a massive problem.
Why do I have to watch the ad after I’ve already bought the product? There must be a better way to spend your marketing dollar?
Great directorial choice.
Well done, forget the racists… i thought it was cool. In camera effects, well worth it.
It’s all getting a bit serious now… Liked these better when they were just irreverent way to make the safety video a bit of fun / less painful.
Flying boat, overwrought story, generic South Island location. I can’t believe DDB had nothing to do with this.
Way too long. Passengers will be checking their phones after the first 60 seconds.
Beautifully done guys. Love it. Well done.
IMHO The safe option. Earnest. Worthy.
I struggled to watch past the two minute mark.
Just make me laugh.
To paraphrase:
Entertain to educate, not the other way around.
But oh so boring. Where’s the levity and entertainment value?
James, so if somebody doesn’t like the ad, they’re racist? How are they racist?
I guess he spun the big wheel of “can’t play the ball so I’m going to play the man” and it spun past boomer, male stale and pale, sizeist, ageist and landed on racist. Don’t be like James. James is the kind of person killing solid debate in society.
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