Tag Archives: All Blacks

Air New Zealand’s new “Men In Black Safety Defenders” video

Air New Zealand (Auckland) always imaginative, has issued its latest air safety video with the following description:

At Air New Zealand, we’re #CrazyAboutRugby. So for our latest inflight safety video, we called upon some very special Men In Black to brief our passengers.

The flag carrier also issued this statement:

Air New Zealand has teamed up with the All Blacks and an all-star line-up of international rugby greats to tackle the airline’s latest on board safety video, Men in Black Safety Defenders.

Inspired by the Columbia Pictures global film franchise Men in Black, Air New Zealand’s latest safety installment features All Black’s Captain Richie McCaw and Dan Carter as Men in Black agents.

Starring alongside the two long-serving All Blacks is Coach Steve Hansen , teammates Kieran Read , Keven Mealamu, Sam Whitelock and Israel Dagg who gets to test his vocals alongside Kiwi musician Stan Walker .

American actor Rip Torn reprises his role as Chief of the Men in Black with Wallabies great David Campese , former England Captain Martin Johnson and former Argentinean Captain Agustin Pichot making cameo appearances.

The video was created in collaboration with Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Content Licensing group, with additional support from Sony Pictures Imageworks and Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Archives & Collections.

“The creative concept and the parallels drawn between the All Blacks and the Men in Black are really clever. It’s been exciting to help Air New Zealand bring the Men in Black universe to life in this unique way,” says Emmanuelle Borde , Executive Vice President, Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Air New Zealand Head of Global Brand Development Jodi Williams says the airline is Crazy About Rugby making the All Blacks the perfect partner for its latest safety offering.

“We recently extended our sponsorship of the All Blacks and New Zealand Rugby through until 2020 and thought what better way to celebrate than 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.”

All Blacks Captain Richie McCaw says the players had a great time making the video.

“We had a lot of laughs on set and were blown away by Israel’s hidden singing talent. If rugby doesn’t work out for him he clearly has a promising career as a back-up singer.”

Israel Dagg says growing up he was a huge fan of the Men in Black films.

“I grew up listening to the iconic Men in Black movie soundtrack song. Hopefully I’ve done it some justice.”

Australian Wallabies great David Campese admitted his appearance in Men in Black Safety Defenders is likely to come at a cost.

“I’m expecting to get a right ribbing from my mates for appearing in a video promoting the All Blacks, Australia’s key opponents. They’ll never let me live it down.”

Former Argentina Captain Agustin Pichot and Martin Johnson , former England Captain shared his sentiment.

“The All Blacks are staunch rivals of the Pumas making it especially fun to play the role of their nemesis in Air New Zealand’s new safety video,” says Mr. Pichot.

“I’m a big fan of Air New Zealand so was excited to get the call up to appear in the airline’s latest inflight video. I’m sure English rugby fans will have a few words to say about my appearance alongside the All Blacks too,” says Mr. Johnson.

New Zealand Rugby Chief Executive Officer Steve Tew says it’s a big year for the All Blacks and with plenty of travel on the cards the team was keen to be involved in delivering the airline’s safety briefing to fellow customers.

“Air New Zealand’s been a long-time supporter of the All Blacks and New Zealand Rugby and has played a crucial role in connecting the team to fans across the globe through inventive and colorful marketing efforts such as Men in Black Safety Defenders.”

In addition the airline also issued this video:

Video: Air New Zealand’s All Blacks taste test hoax

A new video from Air New Zealand highlighting their long association with the All Blacks rugby team.

Air New Zealand further clarifies its new black livery

Air New Zealand (Auckland) has issued this statement its new partnership with Tourism New Zealand:

Air New Zealand has unveiled its new aircraft livery which features the iconic official New Zealand Fern Mark, the use of which is managed by Tourism New Zealand and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise.

Under the MOU, Air New Zealand and Tourism New Zealand will each invest more than $10 million over the next 12 months in co-operative marketing activity in the key markets of Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, North America, the United Kingdom and Europe as well as increased activity in emerging markets such as India and Indonesia.

Air New Zealand and Tourism New Zealand have a strong track record of working together to market New Zealand as a destination. Recent collaboration includes high profile leverage activity to market New Zealand in association with The Hobbit trilogy; joint advertising campaigns in Australia, Japan, China, North America and Europe, hosting over 180 international media to New Zealand and activity to educate the trade on New Zealand including a recent familiarisation for 140 travel agents from North America, the United Kingdom and Europe.

Over the next 12 months, the organizations will continue to jointly promote New Zealand to travellers through advertising, PR activity, working closely with trade partners and on campaigns that actively target business events.

In the coming year, Air New Zealand will also introduce its new aircraft livery which features the iconic New Zealand Fern Mark.

“We are delighted to reveal our new aircraft livery which would not have been possible without the support of Tourism New Zealand and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. The new-look livery is distinctive and iconic and we believe will inspire a sense of pride in New Zealanders,” says Mr Luxon.

The livery design process involved extensive consumer testing including focus groups both in New Zealand and offshore. A clear preference was established for the New Zealand Way Fern Mark to be incorporated into the design with 78 per cent of those surveyed believing it fits with the Air New Zealand brand and represented New Zealand.

The new livery will be progressively rolled out across the Air New Zealand fleet from later this year. The majority of the airline’s fleet will eventually feature the white version of the new livery and a limited number will feature the distinctive black version of the new design (see new Boeing 787-9s designs below).

Air NZ black livery. Air NZ white livery.

Poll: Do you like the new two-version “Black Fern” livery?

Top Copyright Photo: Colin Hunter/AirlinersGallery.com (all others by Air New Zealand). The new fern livery reminds us of the special All Blacks-Crazy About Rugby livery worn by this Airbus A320. A320-232 OAB (msn 4553) arrives back at Auckland.

Air New Zealand:

Air New Zealand to remove its blue-turquoise tail from its livery

Air New Zealand (Auckland) is further reducing the “color” in its “color scheme”. According to this report by the airline via its “The Flying Social Network”, the flag carrier will remove its blue and turquoise tail combination next year to a very unexciting black tail with its traditional white Koru logo. The black titles are being updated with a new font style. The rest of fuselage is a boring all-white.

Current logo:

Read the full story: CLICK HERE

Top Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing. Air New Zealand has been gradually reducing “color” in its livery with each change. The most recent change was to remove the “Pacific Wave” fuselage accent marks from the original 1996 color scheme. Previously the 1996 color scheme update had removed the blue and turquoise fuselage cheat lines of the more colorful 1973 livery. Boeing 747-475 ZK-SUH arrives at Los Angeles in the basic 1996 livery minus the Pacific Wave fuselage marks which were removed in 2008.

Air New Zealand:

View the 1973 livery: CLICK HERE

Bottom Copyright Photo: Micheil Keegan. Did the special All Blacks color scheme influence the carrier to go a very basic black and white livery? Airbus A320-232 ZK-OAB (msn 4553) arrives at Auckland.