Air New Zealand's cheeky puppet mascot, Rico, has a starring role in the latest version of the airline's on-board safety video created for the arrival next month of the first of five new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.
The new video features Rico helping the Air New Zealand crew convey all the essential safety information for the new aircraft, including explaining the safety features of the new Premium Economy Spaceseats and Skycouch for the first time.
Air New Zealand General Manager of Marketing and Communications, Mike Tod, says more than 600,000 people around the world have already watched the four Rico episodes already on YouTube, and the safety video is the latest addition to the line up.
"Each of the videos tells a story about Rico's interactions with passengers on board the new aircraft, but with English as a second language he tends to muddle his words resulting in the sort of comedic moments and double entendre that have elevated him to an online favourite."
Rico was created for Air New Zealand by Jim Henson's Creature Shop Los Angeles. Creative Supervisor, Peter Brooke, says, "Rico was an absolutely fun character to design and create. We had such an amazing experience creatively collaborating with the innovative team at Air New Zealand. They were an integral part in making sure that Rico possessed the uniqueness and whimsical flair that we always aim to achieve with all the puppets that we create. We can't wait to see where the team at Air New Zealand is going to take Rico from here."
The new 777-300ER safety video and all other Rico content can be viewed at www.youtube.com/airnewzealand.
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Issued by Air New Zealand Public Affairs ph +64 21 747 320
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