Air New Zealand has pulled its latest in-flight safety video after it was slammed for being sexist. The clip debuted in February this year and features bikini-clad Sports Illustrated models running through the essentials of in flight safety.
The Sports Illustrated 50th anniversary in-flight safety demonstration, titled “Safety in Paradise”, features Australian model Jessica Gomes along with supermodel Christie Brinkley, Chrissy Teigen, Hannah Davis and Ariel Meredith. The women run through routine in flight procedures whilst lounging around in the Cook Islands.
The clip, which has over 5 million YouTube views, sparked online backlash led by Australian Natasha Young who launched an online petition against the in-flight safety message. Her change.org petition has garnered more than 11,000 signatures.
“A safety video is to alert passengers on what to do in an emergency; it should not be an excuse to objectify the sexualised female body,” reads the petition. “This video completely disregards passengers who find it offensive for religious reasons, who have body image struggles, who are parents concerned about their children’s impressionable nature, who believe women deserve more respect, and who have teenage daughters who deserve more respect.”
It also claims that the video is culturally insensitive and creates an unnecessarily difficult and uncomfortable working environment for Air New Zealand’s female staff. The video has since been pulled from Air New Zealand flights but a spokeswoman told BuzzFeedOz that decision was not due to online backlash and it was always going to be removed after it had completed its run.
Air New Zealand are known for their unusual and innovative in-flight safety videos. Previous iterations featured cabin crew and pilots wearing only in body paint during the in-flight safety message. In 2012 passengers were treated to a Hobbit-inspired video that featured a cameo appearance from Peter Jackson and last year’s videos starred expert survivalist Bear Grylls and American treasure Betty White.
