Models from Sports Illustrated in the latest Air New Zealand safety video / TV3 news anchor Hilary Barry
TV3 news anchor Hilary Barry has become the latest high-profile New Zealander to hit out at Air New Zealand's new safety video.
The video, produced in conjunction with American magazine
Sports Illustrated
, features four scantily-clad swimsuit models. The risque approach has hit headlines around the world, and forced Air New Zealand to defend its choice to make the video.
Speaking on RadioLive this morning, Barry called on the carrier to scrap the video.
"I'm incensed. I'm absolutely incensed by the safety video.
"I think it's highly inappropriate, sexualised, objectifies women, demeaning, it's just appalling.
"They should truly, cut their losses, take it down immediately," she said.
Read more:
• Pam Corkery: Aussie mirth proves Air NZ got it wrong
• Shelley Bridgeman: Has Air NZ taken safety videos too far?
• Brian Holden: Who listens as models preach safety?
Former politician and media personality Pam Corkery and feminist commentator Deborah Russell have also slammed the video.
Air New Zealand have said working with Sports Illustrated - which reached 70 million people - for the safety video had been an opportunity to lift its global profile and promote a key Pacific destination.
The airline sold its last slots at Heathrow in 2020.