Air New Zealand’s latest ad mocks the Kiwi (New Zealander) accent with its different vowel pronunciations and emphases. Air New Zealand crew save the day by fixing the linguistic glitches…

It is a cute ad but one wonders if this is the best that Air New Zealand can come up with? The country punches above its weight internationally has some of the most amazing scenery in the world and just elected its third woman Prime Minister. The country has a lot to be proud of. And Australians, South Africans, Liverpudlians and Glaswegians all have their own unique vowel pronunciations.

Not to mention, Air New Zealand remains my fourth favourite airline (after Qatar, Emirates and Cathay Pacific). This is an airline that has been incredibly innovative over its history overcoming both a small market and geographical isolation to be one of the best in the world. They pioneered auto bag drops which sped up check-ins, the Economy Skycouch and Airband™, which tracks unaccompanied minors on flights and won Innovation of the Year at the 2016 CAPA Asia Pacific Aviation Awards. I have raved about their safety videos previously. In August this year, I noted that Air NZ crew stranded in Houston, Texas because of Hurricane Harvey volunteered to help out. Wouldn’t that have made a great story for a Christmas ad?

I will enjoy the ad (I am not that much of a grinch) but as I do so I will wonder whether the airline could have shown off its innovativeness, Kiwi know-how and sophistication to help Santa out this Christmas? That might have made an even punchier ad. This is last year’s ad. when Ronan Keating and Julian Dennison re write Winter Wonderland so it works for a NZ Summer Christmas.

 

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