Home Travel News

Air New Zealand feels the backlash of a cheeky Aussie bouncer

One minute they're praising you for awesome new direct flights to Chicago, and the next they're blasting you for an "uncalled for and... schoolyard bullying" ad.

One minute they’re praising you for awesome new direct flights to Chicago, and the next they’re blasting you for an “uncalled for and… schoolyard bullying” ad.

Sheesh, Air New Zealand what did you do?

Air New Zealand 3

Less than 24 hours after making everyone super happy with a new non-stop Auckland-Chicago service, the carrier managed to piss a bunch of people off (Aussies to be specific) with a cheeky promo aimed at the Australian cricket team’s cheating scandal.

The 40-second promo was uploaded to the airline’s Facebook page late yesterday, as an open letter to Australian cricketer, Steven Peter Devereux Smith.

Air New Zealand 2

In it, the airline takes aim at the former captain for his role in the cheating incident during the third Test against South Africa, with lines such as “while you’ve been a naughty boy, our boys have been doing rather nicely”.

The airline then goes on to remind Steve (and viewers) of the upcoming New Zealand vs England being held in Christchurch, which is “a little cooler… [and] a nice way to escape the heat back home”.

Many viewers enjoyed the video, saying it’s a great way to make a “laugh out of” a serious situation, while others didn’t take so kindly to the clip.

Air New Zealand

Australian cricket fans were quick to leave comments under the Facebook post defending the Aussie team and player.

Commentors told Air New Zealand to “shut up” or risk “losing a lot of customers”, while others advised the carrier that they’ll be rethinking their booking “for overseas travel this year”.

One Kiwi living in Australia strongly advised the carrier to remove the video as Aussies “won’t find this funny and will probably boycott you”, and another referred to Air New Zealand as “hypocrites” for ignoring New Zealand’s own history of cheating in sport (specifically the alleged Lou Vincent match-fixing).

Check out the video below:

READ: Flights between Auckland and Chicago are coming

READ: Check out the world’s coolest safety video

What do you think of the clip – unnecessary or kind of funny?