bocastephen

Perhaps, but the fad has run its course...time to get back to simple, concise, straight forward safety announcements.

exerda

I think the point of the cutesy safety videos is to get infrequent travelers (the majority of any flight) to pay attention. A dry, quick recital of the basics doesn't achieve that.

The rest of us, though we have to put up with the videos, already know all the basics anyway.

rxziebel

Exactly right on those who fly once a year! For thr frequent flyer, look around and see how much more people enjoy the entertaining safety video. It is only 4 minutes to have to deal with, and frankly it does not delay the flight at all so what is the bother? Relax a little and let the rest of the plane have a few moments to enjoy something.

gene2632

I don't know if NZ was at the fore front of this but we recently flew with them, SFO to AKL to MEL and then AKL to LAX and found the All Blacks video to be a lot of fun. We also found the on board service far beyond anything UA has done. The NZ 777-300 Premium Economy made those long flights and the extra connection on the outbound well worth the price AND we still got our UA miles on those segments... Take note United, the cool video was fun but it was the service that made us happy travelers who would re-book in a heart beat.

im-headed-west

UA sure does like to pat itself on the back for how well they believe the video turned out

skidooman

That is the point, exactly.

If the fun stops with the video, it is no fun at all. The video gets forgotten pretty quickly in these cases.

CMK10

Finally saw the "new" safety video (with the llamas). What struck me is how long it is. Because they have the setups for each scene as well as all the jokes (haha the woman got left at the altar! What a pip!) it takes seemingly forever to finish. I'm not really sure what they were going for but it seems like a pretty big waste of money to me.

exerda

Having seen the new one dozens of times more, I miss the prior one. This one is just cheesier and delivered by actors who can't seem to believe they're in such a cheesy video.

I suppose it could be worse: they could still be following this video with the annoying granny and her holiday safety briefing...

skidooman

That's what I don't really like about it.

I give them kudos to try to do something else than boring. But this latest one, well, it smells pretty cheesy. The previous one was less.

The really good videos are the ones that are just fun - but with a common thread (NZ All Blacks) - or cute (Shenzhen Airlines with their kids announcements come to mind).

I actually liked the granny announcement, but I wish it replaced the safety video. When I get in a plane, I want to spend 2-3 minutes on the video, then please don't require my attention on extra marketing fluff.

I know your MBA geniuses are telling you we are a captive audience, but at least with this prisoner I will make a point NOT to patronize whatever service or product you are trying to push onto me to gain an extra buck.

bocastephen

1-2 minutes tops...but I am not as captive as you might think...a good pair of headphones with the volume off and a magazine, and for all I know, there is no video or marketing fluff happening. I am only annoyed on DTV flights where my TV show is interrupted for twice as long as necessary.

PsiFighter37

I have zero issue with the new one. I actually thought the last one ran a bit on the long side. That said, I did like the NZ safety announcements I saw (currently surfing-themed), although the link for their inclusion was tenuous at best.

Either way, the best part is not seeing Jeff's smug mug before the video

exerda

Except on flights where they crank the volume to the point I hear it through my noise-cancelling headphones and the music I'm listening to...

DCEsquire

Yes. It's also a way to get you to appreciate flights with no IFE systems.