Stripped Bare

The economy has been hard on everyone.

Take the poor airlines. Has anyone else noticed how more and more planes seem to be 'dropping out of the sky?'

Even our beloved Qantas Airlines, which is the only airline in the world not to have had a fatal crash since it started flying Boeings, has had numerous 'incidents' in the last 12 months as the result of ‘mechanical failure’. In other words, my words, maintenance has been outsourced where labour is cheaper and standards are more questionable.

Corners are being cut left, right and centre. So all airlines are looking at ways to attract new customers.

My hat goes off to Air New Zealand who has come up with a unique way of trimming the fat and at the same time, giving customers a reason to fly with them.

They recently released an advertisement called Bare Essentials which features body painted staff. Yes, it seems they are giving each staff member a paint by number set to colour in their own uniforms. Imagine the savings!

All jokes aside, they aren't giving up uniforms just yet but the airline has decided to expand its use of body painted staff from advertisements to the in-flight safety video used on 737 domestic flights.

Starting this week, thousands of Air New Zealand passengers will now get their flight safety instructions from staff wearing nothing but body paint.

It hopes to catch the attention of those travellers who ignore the safety video.



As a makeup artist who has done body painting for creative projects, I think there is a time and place. I hope they stop there.

I give them ten points for creative effort but I am still only taking my hat off for them. Nothing else.

At this rate, I wonder how long it's going to take before they change their name to Air Nude Zealand?

To watch the making of the airline's TV advertisesment, click here. You have got to love that Kiwi accent!!