5 examples of entertaining yet educational in-flight safety videos by airline brands

Air India’s recently launched inflight safety video, ‘Safety Mudras’, has created a buzz on the internet. Shankar Mahadevan has composed the music for the video, which has been conceptualised by McCann Group’s Prasoon Joshi and directed by Bharatbala. While some have applauded the innovation behind making inflight instructions attention-worthy, others have called the same innovation out-of-place.

In the video, one sees dancers performing different classical and folk dances of India, including Bharatnatyam, Kathakali, Kathak, Bihu, Ghoomar, Giddha, Mohiniyattam and Odissi. Each dance form and its mudras becomes a medium for a specific inflight safety instruction.

Several Twitter users have commended how the video introduces Indian dances to international passengers. An X user, Shubham Sharma (@S_Shubham001), wrote, “Safety with a touch of grace. Air India’s new video is a beautiful fusion of culture and instruction. Who knew safety briefings could be this entertaining?”

Several others, however, express their doubts about whether the video efficiently does what it is supposed to - prioritise providing safety instructions. Karthik Srinivasan, a communications strategy consultant, called the video neither well-conceived nor well-produced. In his blog, he wrote, “The primary aim of these safety videos is to impart crucial information that can potentially save lives (both self and others). But the more thematic - and theatrical - these videos get, the further they move away from imparting valuable information because the theme distracts people from it.”

Air safety demonstrations are not new. For the past few decades, airline companies have been trying to produce inflight safety videos that will keep passengers riveted to the important information being provided. Here are five videos that managed to hook people even by keeping the facts in front and the theme in the background:

1. Japan Airlines

The extremely detailed video of Japan Airlines uses animation to not only convey the safety instructions. Not only does it show the necessary instructions, but it also shows the consequences of not following said instructions. It also provides extra information about evacuation, like the optimum position of the human body while going down an inflation slide and when to assist fellow passengers, in case of an emergency.    

2. Virgin America

One of the earliest inflight safety videos, Virgin America used animation to bring to life cartoon-like, pencil sketch characters that represented the conversational yet satirical tone of the video. While the animated characters draw attention, their sole purpose onscreen is to convey the flight safety instructions.

3. British Airways

British Airways leveraged the star power of the country’s known faces to keep the passengers invested. A collaboration between the airlines company and UK charity Comic Relief, the video features actors Rowan Atkinson, Thandiwe Newton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Gordon Ramsey, Ian McKellen and Warwick Davies. The video shows that successful airline safety videos can be made without graphics or animation.

4. Turkish Airlines

Banking on the success of The Lego movies in Hollywood, Turkish Airlines used the characters from the films to narrate the otherwise “boring” inflight instructions. The video almost oversteps into the theme-more-important-than-instructions category when the characters break into a song and dance, but quickly corrects itself to giving out the information only - till the end of the video.

5. Thomson Airlines

Arguably the cleverest marketing strategy, Thomson Airlines used a group of young children to demonstrate air safety instructions. The kids, headed by Alice, enact the role of the pilots and cabin crew. While the eye-grabbing cuteness of the group keeps passengers riveted, the video mainly focuses on conveying the instructions only.

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