Straighten Up And Fly, Right?

This from faithful FOP (that's "Friend of Pow!" for all you newbies) Tyler Wordsworth, who raves about the "next step" in the all-important Surprise Continuum from--pardon the pun--ballsy Air New Zealand:

"Andy - have you seen these? First came the commercial, now they've done their entire in-flight safety video - you know, the ones you and I normally tune out - in body paint! The best part is not only the POW factor but they've used actual pilots, flight attendants, and even the CEO as the actors."

Tyler has reason to be excited (aside from the obvious).  In a most moribund industry, this relatively tiny Kiwi airline has out-Virgined Virgin Air in (sorry!) cheekiness and has (sorry again) showed more staff spirit than Southwest.

The tease factor is incredible; you can almost hear yourself yell "Lower!" or "Zoom out!" to the obviously well-disciplined camera operator (who seems to have cut his or her chops shooting final scenes in Austin Powers flicks).  Perhaps travel writer Mike Barish put it best when he said:

"Seatbelt instructions? In body paint. Life jacket demonstration? In body paint. Water landing safety? Well, you get the picture. Actually, you don't get the whole picture. Some strategically placed luggage and seat backs ensure that.

"Lately, many airlines have replaced the flight attendant demos with clever videos, and Air New Zealand may have just raised the bar for the rest of the industry. And so long as that bar is covering the complimentary bag of nuts..."

Anyway, without any further ado: