Hasta La Creative!

The wizards at Air New Zealand have conjured up their third J.R.R. Tolkien-themed video in as many years, ahead of the final installment of Peter Jackson’s second Middle Earth trilogy, “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.”

Directed by Taika Waititi, the new clip is modesty titled “The Most Epic Safety Video Ever Made,” and it features appearances by Elijah Wood, Dean O’Gorman and Sylvester McCoy, all stars of the upcoming movie. No Ian McKellen, though. I guess he took the bus. Jackson also appears quite a bit, and his production company, WETA Workshop, helped develop the spot, along with Kiwi ad agency True.

“This latest offering combines members of our cast and our locations with Air New Zealand’s unique personality.” says Jackson. “I had a lot of fun on the set with Taika and the team and look forward to seeing the video on board.”

Elaborate effects—including one big-ass bird—and pointy-eared pageantry propel demonstrations of life vests, oxygen masks, aircraft exit procedures and the like. There’s plenty to savor, but one of the coolest elements is among the simplest: wood-carved tablet-type devices that perfectly capture the “magic mirror” ambiance of modern technology. MGM should market them as movie tie-ins. I want one!

“May your path always be guided by the light of the stars,” Wood says at the end of the fantastic journey. It’s a fitting way to wish viewers well and drive home the safety message once the enormous eagle has landed.

Air NZ’s first Hobbit-inspired flight-safety foray, “An Unexpected Briefing,” took off in 2012. A second spot, “Just Another Day in Middle Earth”—a fanciful long-form commercial sans safety message—taxied down the runway a year ago.

Apart from its elvish travels, the carrier’s taken off on other flights of fancy through the years. Far from the Shire, Air NZ visited a different land of enchantment in this Sports Illustrated safety collaboration, made its cabin attendants’ clothing disappear for no good reason, and let Richard Simmons exercise his own strange magic.

A bizarre crop circle appeared north of the Kansas City International Airport this week, causing a stir in social media. No, there were no aliens or incredibly talented goats involved in this one. The image of a man covering himself was done by ad agency Barkley as part of its work for Spirit Airlines’ “Bare Fares” campaign.

Which means no free bag, no free drink, no carry-on luggage. Just you and a personal item (like a handbag or a backpack) origami’d onto a seat (they add extra seats to these flights, so no luck on legroom) for a really, really low price.

Spirit is often a target for hate in social media because of confusion about its unique model (super low fares, but fees for everything, like … water), so they also started the Hate Thousand Miles Giveaway. Check out the video below.

“Air travel can suck. We get it. You wouldn’t believe all the hate Spirit gets,” the narrator says before singing angry tweets. Funny video, neat campaign, but the high-pitched (fake? real?) voice is grating enough to make me mute it. But maybe you like that. And body contortion, I don’t know.

Barkley has been working with Spirit since the end of 2013, and is trying to steer its intentionally controversial marketing in a more productive direction—”provocative with purpose,” as the agency says. But Barkley adds: “Spirit’s main focus has and will remain heavily vested in PR, meant to drum up earned media without the financial outlay that comes with broadcast or digital campaigns.”

Photo via.

If people could literally see how much more relaxing British Airways’ new in-flight perks really are, then everyone would obviously understand how much better the company is than its competitors, says British Airways.

To that end, the airline made these not-at-all-awkward brainwave-measuring headbands and connected them to light-up blankets that change color based on how passengers are feeling. Like a mood ring for your whole body.

Stressed is red. Comfy is blue. Because wearable technology is so hot right now, even at 35,000 feet. Also because it’s always so much fun to hurtle through space in a tin can that it’s only natural to want a device to tell you how good of a time you’re actually having, and to broadcast your state of mind to all the other humans crammed in like sardines next to you.

But as nifty as the technology is, and as dazzling as the pretty LEDs are, the whole exercise in self-congratulation would be a whole lot cooler if it told us something more revelatory than the fact that people are at their happiest when they can manage to sleep through the whole ride.

Then again, at least it’s more intriguing than just saying outright that the food and seats have improved—especially when the bar for airline food is usually so high.

At one time or another, I think we've all wished that air travel was less like being crammed into a cattle car and more like being crammed into a one-bedroom apartment.

Well, Etihad Airways has made the latter a reality with The Residence, a three-room premium cabin (with shower!) on its Airbus A380 that costs something like $43,000 per trip to reserve. A personal butler and chef are factored into that price, by the way, which is why it's roughly the down payment on a nice house. But that's the price one must pay for that high-roller Elvis lifestyle. Minus the shag carpeting and drugs, I mean.

If you can stand listening to Dannii Minogue for three whole minutes, she gives a video tour of the suite and details its various amenities below.

Via BloombergBusinessweek.

Even the discount airlines need a rockin' safety video now.

Get down with the latest in-flight jam, titled "Up," created for a new budget airline also called UP, owned by Israel's El Al. The jaunty boogie takes a five-minute scenic tour through some great moments in rock history, including Devo, Robert Palmer and Ziggy Stardust.

Yes, they're jumping on the flight-video bandwagon without a unique take like Air New Zealand's bikini models or Delta's attack of the killer scrunchies. In fact, it's rather similar to Virgin's "Safety Dance." But that doesn't make it less charming.

In general, informational videos forced on a captive audience should be applauded for any attempt at edutaining us. And the afros and cottonball cloud costumes are certainly working here. Plus, you gotta love a good keytar.

After being called racist for portraying Westerners as big-nosed blond men who aren't afraid of hugs, Japan's All Nippon Airways has promised to edit the offending scene out of its commercial. 

In the original spot, shown below, an All Nippon pilot (played by a popular comedian) attempts to "change the image of Japanese people" by donning a long, fake nose and a blond wig. The airline began receiving complaints in social media that this portrayal was insulting to Westerners.

What's more apparent to me is the self-deprecation on display here ("such a Japanese reaction"). In fact, I'd dare to say this ad isn't particularly offensive, especially when compared to all the other stuff one could say about Americans. Hell, the fact that we aren't being depicted as fat oafs who smell like grease and milk is a step toward progress.

JetBlue Airways is launching a big new ad campaign from Mullen with the theme "Air on the Side of Humanity." But its big star isn't even human—he's a pigeon.

The 60-second launch spot is a documentary-style piece in which the pigeon—that most frequent of frequent fliers, and most underappreciated of birds—talks about how he flies in crowded spaces, gets crumbs for snacks and is generally ignored. Thus, he's a stand-in for the masses who, with ruffled feathers, shuffle onto rival planes and experience the worst of air travel. "There's got to be a way to fly with a little respect. You know?" our hero asks at the end, as the tagline appears on screen.

The campaign breaks first in Boston, where JetBlue has the most daily nonstop flights of any carrier, and includes TV spots (running in 39 prime-time season premieres), online advertising, microsites, mobile, social, experiential and out-of-home advertising. Most intriguingly, JetBlue is also partnering with Mobile Theory on a voice activation unit that will teach consumers "how to speak pigeon on their smartphones."

There's also a digital experience and social hub called Central Perch, where you can send messages to friends through virtual carrier pigeons on Facebook. Meanwhile, check out the launch spot and credits below.

CREDITS
Client: JetBlue Airways
Spot: "Air on the Side of Humanity"

Agency: Mullen
Chief Creative Officer: Mark Wenneker
Executive Creative Director Tim Vaccarino
Executive Creative Director Dave Weist
Group Creative Director Dylan Bernd
Sr. Copywriter Jack Collier
Writers: Evelynne Scholnick, Nick Olish
Sr Art Director: Dan Madsen
Art Directors: Jay Spahr, Mauricio Perez, Kara Noble
Digital Designer: Scott Petrichko
SVP, Creative Technologist: Christian Madden
Creative Technologists: Dave Lee, Stefan Harris, Joe Palasek
Executive Director of Integrated Production: Liza Near
Head of Broadcast Zeke Bowman
Producer Vera Everson
Sr Digital Producer: Kim Ryan
Digital Producers: Heidi Laidlaw, Charley Perkins
Experience Designers: Hoon Oh
Group Account Director Drayton Martin
Account Director Jill Rugani
Account Supervisor Hannah Moore, Cece Wedel
Senior Account Executive Molly Barag
Assistant Account Executive Vish Chandawarkar
Animation Designer: Veronica Padilla
QA: Ryan Nelson
Copy Editors: Ashley Rumery, Eric Maus, Rebecca Rehbein
Strategic Digital Analysts: Steve Sandiford, May Liu
Sr Computer Artist Kathryn Lane
Project Manager Niha Reddy
Production Supervisor Mark Gardner
SVP Group Media Director Keith Lusby
VP Associate Media Director Chris McLaughlin
Senior Media Planner Lauren Atkins
Assistant Media Planner Charlie Weickert
VP Group Digital Media Director Jade Watts
Associated Digital Media Director Rachel Allen
Digital Media Supervisor Erin Kelly
Digital Media Planner Caroline Caterine
Account Director PR Jaclyn Ruelle
Account Supervisor PR Christina Simmons
Account Executive PR Arianna Rubinstein
SVP, Group Strategy Director Fredrik Sarnblad
Senior Planning Analyst Chris Plating
Senior Brand Strategist Lirra Schiebler

Production: Hungry Man
Director Hank Perlman
Executive Producer Mino Jarjoura
Producer Martha English
Director of Photography Tom Richmond

Editorial: P.S. 260
Producer Laura Lamb Patterson
Editor JJ Lask
Assistant Editor Colin Reilly, Joe Simmons

VFX: Brickyard
Executive Producer Kirsten Andersen
Lead VFX Artist Geoff McAuliffe, Jimi Simmons
Animation Director Anders Beer

CG: General Gau & Brickyard VFX
Executive Producer Kirsten Anderson

Music: Original Music by Human

Audio Post: Sound Lounge/Soundtrack
Sound Design/Mixer Tom Jucarone, Glen Landrum, Mike Secher

Droga5 and publisher Hachette Australia recently bestowed upon Qantas frequent fliers an anachronistic little gift that will come in handy aboard Qantas flights when approved electronic devices must be completely turned off.

The agency's Sydney office packaged together a 10-book box set of previously published paperbacks "specifically edited to last just as long as each of Qantas's key routes." It's a fun idea, and Droga is playing the nostalgia factor to the hilt. "In this world of Kindles and iPads, it seems that the last bastion of the humble paperback novel is actually at 40,000 feet," says David Nobay, creative chairman of Droga5 Sydney. "You only need to look at the bulging shelves at any airport bookstore. Maybe it's the fact that everything seems so far removed from the real world up there."

All 10 books are by Australian authors: James Castrission, Tony Cavanaugh, Sean Fewster, Kimberley Freeman, Lian Hearn, William McInnes, Peter FitzSimons, Jack Marx, Rob Mundle and Roland Perry. The collection spans adventure, crime, women's fiction, literary, history and romance. The books are meant to correspond to the lengths of 10 popular Qantas flights (Sydney to Dubai, Melbourne to London, Perth to Singapore, etc.), with meals and other breaks factored in. Designer Paul Belford created a unique cover for each book.

"One of the greatest challenges in publishing is to remind people of the pleasure that reading brings, and that even though the online world is growing, there is still a romance in the printed page," says Fiona Hazard, publishing director of Hachette Australia. "At Hachette, we are always looking for new ways to bring stories and voices to life, so when Droga5 approached us to discuss this idea we jumped straight in. It's been great fun working with them to get this project off the ground."