Air NZ safety video goes All Black with Men in Black

The All Black brand is in hot demand as the Rugby World Cup approaches and Air New Zealand [NZX:AIR] hasn’t missed out with its latest safety video.

The five-minute video is titled Men in Black Safety Defenders and is based on the blockbuster Men in Black.

All Black legends Dan Carter and Richie McCaw lead the charge in the first 45 seconds of the instructional video as MIB agents but it quickly transitions into a hiphop music video with singer Stan Walker and All Black Israel Dagg singing a duet.

Several rugby stars make cameos, including All Blacks Kieran Read, Kevin Mealamu, Sam Whitelock, coach Steve Hansen, Wallabies great David Campese, former England captain Martin Johnson and former Argentinean captain Agustin Pichot.

American actor Rip Torn also reprises his role as chief of Men in Black from the movies MIB I and MIB II.

Sony Pictures granted a license and worked with Air NZ for the video. Independent ad agency True was behind the creative execution.

Air NZ head of global brand development Jodi Williams says the national carrier recently extended its sponsorship of the All Blacks and New Zealand Rugby through until 2020 and wanted to celebrate with a safety video.

“We’ve worked with the All Blacks on previous safety videos and thought it would be fun this time around to have them step into the shoes of the other highly trained Men in Black. The result is not only entertaining but makes people sit up and take notice of the key safety messages,” she says.

Mr McCaw says the players were blown away by Mr Dagg’s unexpected singing talent.

“If rugby doesn’t work out for him, he clearly has a promising career as a back-up singer.”

Mr Dagg expects to “get a right ribbing” from his friends for appearing in the video.

Comments on social media have been mostly complimentary but one pointed out the irony of the ending where the “neuralyzer” MIB device causes people to forget what just happened.

The video will be rolled out across Air NZ’s fleet from today.

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