New Zealand's national airline has adopted a cheeky way to encourage passengers to watch its in-flight safety video: The cabin crew's uniforms are nothing but body paint.
The "Bare Essentials of Safety," screening in the cabins of planes flying Air New Zealand's main domestic routes, has gone viral online. It had 1.2 million YouTube views by Friday, four days after it was launched.
In the video, three cabin staff and a pilot, all in full body paint applied to look like their uniforms, talk viewers through the aircraft's safety procedures.
A demonstration seat belt, life jacket and arm rests are strategically positioned during the 3 1/2-minute video to protect the cabin crew's ... discretion. Passengers are shown ogling, mostly in appreciation.
The body paint idea is also being used in a series of television advertisements in New Zealand for the airline, which include the promise: "At Air New Zealand, our fares have nothing to hide."
One ad even features chief executive Rob Fyfe in body paint.
"We think in tough times there's a premium for making people smile, and it gives the opportunity to stand out in a crowd," Air New Zealand's marketing general manager Steve Bayliss told The Associated Press.
Each crew member spent about three hours having the body paint applied.
The video needed "a little bit of a hint, but every frame has to be as modest as anything you see at the local swimming pool or the beach in summer," Bayliss said.
After all, the people in the ads are not models or actors but work colleagues, he said.
— A school teacher in northern California was not as careful with her video.
She sent her students home for the summer with a video of class memories, only the DVD included six seconds of her having sex on a couch.
Officials at the Elk Grove Unified School District asked families of the teacher's 24 students to get rid of the DVD after the unintended clip was found spliced in a scene where children were sharing stories in class.
"Just destroy them," said spokeswoman Torrey Johnson.
Johnson said the teacher, whose name isn't being released, sent the DVD home with her students from Isabelle Jackson Elementary on the last day of class Friday. She learned of the mistake after a parent called her. She then called all the parents to ask them to destroy the DVD.
The school district, located just south of Sacramento, initially sent a letter home to parents asking them to return the DVDs, but then asked parents to simply destroy them.
— Ever get that sinking feeling when you realize you've lost your cell phone? That's what happened to Carlos Williams — after he allegedly robbed a bank.
Police say Williams left two huge clues at the scene of a bank robbery in Frederick, Md., — his cell phone and his wallet. The items were sitting on the bank counter.
The wallet led to an address in Alexandria, Va., but Williams was able to elude capture. And he was apparently undeterred by his mistake. Police say he committed a similar robbery on Tuesday at a bank in Libertytown. Investigators knew immediately who was responsible.
The 28-year-old Williams and his 37-year-old girlfriend, Denise Smith, were arrested Thursday in District Heights, where they live. Police say they recovered a BB gun used in the robberies and some of the cash.
— And should this be a surprise?
Three elephants consumed 505 hot dog buns in six minutes to beat a team of three humans in a rare cross-species eating contest at Brooklyn's Coney Island.
A commentator at Friday's eating challenge says the elephants seemed to be eating at a leisurely pace. The three humans ate 143 buns in six minutes.
The competition was sponsored by Major League Eating and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey.
Ringling Bros. Animal Stewardship Director Janice Aria says that the elephants enjoy bread and can eat a foot-long loaf in 1.6 seconds.
Organizers say the humans weigh about 500 pounds collectively. The Asian elephants weigh about 9 tons.
The human eaters are expected to compete in Saturday's annual Fourth of July hot dog eating contest.
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Mid-Daily Items: Airline grabs attention with 'bare essentials'
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