With WestJet morphing into a full-service airline to compete with Air Canada, it was only a matter of time before the airline created its own safety video.
Airlines take safety videos very seriously. And I don’t mean the message, with his is fairly standard around the world. Instead, I mean the production, the theme, and the artistry involved. Air New Zealand has made a franchise of it and United Airlines even releases trailers before its annual safety videos debut.
So how about WestJet? Its new safety video is over seven minutes long. Not so much because of unnecessary fluff, but because every sentence is uttered first in English, then in French. WestJet is promoting the video under the hashtag #FirstFlight, which tracks the first flight of a little girl. It will appear on 787 Dreamliner flights, which feature seatback monitors.
CONCLUSION
I give the safety video a big shrug. Unlike the amazing Christmas videos that WestJet produces each year, this safety video strikes me as lacking the sort of creativity other airlines have put into safety video.
Then again, maybe that is not the problem at all, but a good thing. At least the safety message is conveyed quite clearly and respects Canada’s bilingual language requirements.
What do you think about the new WestJet safety video?
It’s WAY too long right now but airlines usually cut them down before final introduction. Regardless, I love it. It reminds me of a cross between Frozen and Lilo & Stitch. It’s cute without being overly saccharine. It clearly and memorably demonstrates everything it needs to without stupid song-and-dance routines, unnecessary celebrity cameos, terrible jokes, employee actors who simply can’t act, or awful production values that make you hate it instantly and force you to STOP paying attention. With all the terrible Air New Zealand, Delta, United, and American rubbish out there, this is a clear winner. To me, it’s the evolution of the perfect safety video in cartoon form that Virgin America had – the one before the live-action song/rap/dance-off they had until acquired by Alaska.