Air New Zealand will conclude a three-year association with The Hobbit movie trilogy with what it labels “The Most Epic Safety Video Ever Made”.
From an airline that has given the traveling public fitness guru Richard Simmons, nude cabin crew covered only in body paint, Sports Illustrated swimsuit models, television veteran Betty White and extreme adventurer Bear Grylls, it is a big claim.
Not to mention the first Hobbit-inspired safety video in 2012, which was titled “An Unexpected Briefing” and garnered more than 12 million views online.
This latest video, which can be viewed online here, features the cast from all three Hobbit films, including stars Elijah Wood (Frodo Baggins), Dean O’Gorman (Fili the Dwarf) and Sylvester McCoy (Radagast).
Air NZ head of global brand development Jodi Williams said the carrier was proud to have been the “Official Airline of Middle Earth” over the past three years.
“We’re confident our final Hobbit-inspired on board safety video will delight fans as much as the first one and inspire even more people to consider a visit to Middle-earth,” Williams said in a statement.
And while Air NZ lays claim to “Most Epic Safety Video Ever Made” honours, the New Zealand flag carrier is not the only airline to surprise, delight or shock fans with out there safety videos.
In 2013, Virgin America assembled a cast that would not look out of place on the television program Glee to outline the safety features of its Airbus A320 family aircraft with about five minutes of singing, dancing and rapping. It also included the line “For the .0001 per cent of you who have never operated a seat belt before, it works like this.”
Elsewhere, Air Arabia used an all-child cast for its safety video, while Delta employed cult 80s television character Alf and Bangkok Airways also took a musical approach to informing passengers where the exits were and how to fasten a seat belt.
