Qantas made an 8-minute safety video that's hard to hate

An eight-minute in-flight safety video telling the history of an airline sounds at best like a unique form of torture and at worst like something that would send Ad Nut into a murderous rage—thus ironically endangering flight safety.

But the above Qantas video, which took 12 months to produce, is actually not completely painful. The creators went on a quest to recreate airplane cabins of yesteryear with an attention to accurate mise en scène that would make Martin Scorsese proud. Many of the uniforms and props that you see are recreations from old photos or actual vintage items found in the closets of retired crew members (see here for details). Ad Nut would particularly like to get laid back in the 747 upper deck lounge from the 1970s. Groovy, man.

And there are enough amusing gags—the best ones involve smoking and the use of electronic devices—that Ad Nut's predisposition to hate this gradually melted away.

Ad Nut still finds it weird that airlines spend so much time and money producing videos that essentially market to people who have already bought their product. If you're going to do that in an attempt to build brand affinity with those customers, and hope for earned-media coverage outside the aircraft, fine. But because the audience is a captive one, it had better be entertaining or it will backfire. Looks like Qantas passed the test this time.  

CREDITS

Agency: Brand + Story
Production: Positive Ape
Soundtrack: Bruce Heald from Noise International featuring James Morrison
CGI: White Chocolate, Sydney
Wardrobe: Melissa Rutherford

Ad Nut is a surprisingly literate woodland creature that for unknown reasons has an unhealthy obsession with advertising. Ad Nut gathers ads from all over Asia and the world for your viewing pleasure, because Ad Nut loves you. You can also check out Ad Nut's Advertising Hall of Fame, or read about Ad Nut's strange obsession with 'murderous beasts'.