Air New Zealand’s new Christmas advert takes a light-hearted poke at President Trump by portraying a young boy wearing a red “Make Christmas Great Again” cap.
The “Nicest Christmas Ever” advert shows Santa mistakenly sending his ‘naughty list’ to a child in New Zealand, who then assembles children from around the world to an “International Naughty Kids Summit”.
In the tongue-in-cheek advert, the American delegate arrives at the summit wearing a “Make Christmas Great Again” cap, in the style of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” hat.
To get back onto the ‘nice list’, the delegates make promises to be better to their country, including tugging each other’s hair less and eating more vegetables.
The American says he is “not naughty at all” and is the “nicest person” he knows. He is then laughed at by the other children in a scene that mimics Trump’s appearance at the United Nations’ General Assembly in September. The same line that Trump said – “I didn’t expect that reaction but that’s okay” – is also used.
The Kiwi delegate promises to be “nicer to Australia”, which tips the balance from ‘naughty’ to ‘nice’. The ad finishes with a “Merry Christmas from the nicest place on earth”.
Air New Zealand said that more than 300 children of the airline’s employees auditioned to take part, with 17 selected to star as extras.
Jodi Williams, general manager global brand and content at Air New Zealand, said that the airline “wanted to inject some Kiwi humour into Christmas celebrations”.
“From childhood memories of writing to Santa, through to the drama of a festive tech fail, the heart-warming video plays on silly season moments in a very Kiwi way.”
Earlier this month, Air New Zealand’s rap safety video, set to Run DMC’s ”It’s Tricky”, was called “cringe” by a New Zealand MP.
