[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQDip9V49U0&w=784&h=588%5D
This four minute YouTube video featuring sexy models in bikinis sparked a backlash that Air New Zealand had not predicted.
Natasha Young, the woman who felt offended that women’s bodies be sexualized for an airline safety video started a petition:
Air NZ finds it appropriate to reinvent the in-flight safety video with a celebration of Sports Illustrated 50th anniversary. 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.
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. This video is culturally insensitive; it disregards those who are conservative by nature and are uncomfortable with its imagery and disregards passengers who have been exposed to sexual assault. This video creates an unnecessarily difficult and uncomfortable working environment for its female staff, which goes against the entire nature of safety.
This video forces itself upon the passengers; it is played in the small confines of an aircraft there is no option to turn off the video. This video offends those who value the right to choose. Air NZ appears determined to insist that skies are sexy regardless of who they offend.
If you find this video entirely inappropriate as a safety video, let Air NZ know, sign below. We can get it removed and replaced with appropriate safety instructions that put safety first.
