Before I gush about Air New Zealand’s Christmas ad by Host/Havas, please allow me to concede that almost all films starring kids are gorgeous. This one, though has a lot more going for it than cuteness.

Kudos to Finch’s Alyssa McClelland. Getting kids to act flawlessly is hard. Getting amateur kids to act flawlessly – in this case, the children of Air New Zealand employees – astonishing. Kudos to the writers. Air New Zealand plays a very natural cameo role. Kudos to the idea. And kudos to Air New Zealand. Gush over. Here’s the story.

In the three-minute film, The Nicest Christmas Ever, the naughty children of the world have found out they’re on Santa’s bad list so they hold a summit – (think, Paris) – to rectify the situation. Air New Zealand comes on board to fly in all the naughty children. (If an airline can cope with that, it must be the best remarkable in the world: ed)

At the summit, to change their status from naughty to nice, each child makes a promise – Argentina, for example, promise to reduce gaseous emissions by 20%. All, except for the kid wearing the red Make Christmas Great Again cap, who denies that he’s naughty. “I’m the nicest person, I know,” he states. Even children find that kids’ boasting hilarious.

It’s left to New Zealand to make a lot of promises. The Kiwi kids save the day by making a triple-bunger promise that includes being nice to Australia – this last promise made with fingers crossed behind the speaker’s back. The naughty-nice meter swings to nice.

More than 300 children of Air New Zealand employees auditioned to take part in the clip. 17 were selected to star as extras, supported by the airline’s ground and cabin crew. Santa kicks off the action, with Noel the elf from last year’s Air New Zealand Christmas video.

Air New Zealand general manager global brand and content Jodi Williams commented, “From childhood memories of writing to Santa, through to the drama of a festive tech fail, the heartwarming video plays on silly season moments in a very Kiwi way. Showcasing our people is a hallmark of Air New Zealand’s brand campaigns and it was fantastic to be able to share the limelight with more of the Air New Zealand family this time.”

The video follows Air New Zealand’s A Very Merry Mistake from Christmas 2017, in which Santa struggles to decipher the New Zealand accent. That campaign attracted 13 million views and won the Global Content award at the PRWeek Global Awards in London.

Host/Havas: Air New Zealand offers the world a very Mirry Christmus

Credits:
 
Creative Agency: Host/Havas
Executive Creative Director: Jon Austin
Senior Copywriter:  Hadleigh Sinclair
Senior Art Director:  Jack Delmonte
Senior Account Director:  Laura Mahony
Planning Directors: Jessica Page & Bernadine Brewer
Broadcast Producer:  Stephanie Cameron
Print Producer: Gary Wallis

Production Company: FINCH
Director: Alyssa McClelland
Managing Director: Corey Esse
Executive Producer: Karen Bryson
Producer: Jimena Murray
Director of Photography: Andrew Stroud
Production Designer: Brant Fraser
Editor: Drew Thompson
Edit House: ARC Edit
Post-Production: Nakatomi
Colourist: Ben Eagleton

Music and Sound Design: Song Zu

Photography by Fraser Clements
Photography Production: The Incredible Picture Company

Media agency: Carat NZ, Dentsu Aegis Network

Client: Air New Zealand
Global Brand Project Team: Jodi Williams, Jessica Yip, Samantha Saunders, Maria Ryan-Young, Karina Wenker, Saffron Dunlop, Andy Havill, Maria Hahn.