Air NZ threatens return of ridiculed rap safety video if passengers don't social distance

Air New Zealand has come up with a novel, if harsh, punishment for passengers if they don't stick to physical distancing rules on board – bringing back its much-derided rap safety video. The airline shared a memo from "Tod Michaels, Head of Safety" to the marketing team, suggesting "a new way of encouraging people to follow our physical distancing measures on board." "If people adhere to the new standard, we'll promise not to bring back our rap safety video this month," the memo says. "Tod Michaels" appears to be a corruption of the name of outgoing chief marketing officer Mike Tod. Air NZ pulled the $2.5m It's Kiwi Safety music/safety video in January 2019, just three months after it released the video, which featured an all-Kiwi cast getting down to a Kiwified version of Run DMC's 1986 hip hop hit It's Tricky. The video received a barrage of criticism after its November 2018 launch, with Breakfast presenter Hayley Holt branding it "embarrassing", while NZ First MP Shane Jones called it "confusing" and "tone deaf" and said it "trivialised safety". Going by the comments Air New Zealand's threat to bring back the rap video received on social media, it could prove pretty effective.<br/>