Air New Zealand Releases Controversial Air Safety Video Featuring Swimsuit Models

Air New Zealand's safety video featuring Sports Illustrated Swimsuit models turned out to be controversial when it merely published a promotional video, but now the airline has released the actual 4-minute and 10 second "Safety in Paradise" video featuring models Chrissy Teigen, Ariel Meredith, Hannah Davis, Jessica Gomes and Christie Brinkley.

The video, featuring dancing women shaking their butts as a voice says, "your nearest exit could be behind you," and a bikini-clad model securing her seatbelt while lying in a lounge chair on the beach, among other set-ups, will undoubtedly attract fans as well as vociferous critics.

Timed to mark 40 years of Air New Zealand's flying to the Cook Islands and the 50th anniversary of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, "Safety in Paradise" will definitely generate lots of publicity, good and bad, for Air New Zealand.

If the video is supposed to be a forward-looking, cutting-edge, and anything-goes social enterprise, then it contains some curiously old-school elements.

For example, passengers are advised to put their mobile devices into airplane mode so they don't interfere with the aircrafts' navigation -- a largely discredited premise.

Take a look at the video, and make your own judgment. The video was released today, and Air New Zealand plans to introduce it across its fleet starting at the end of February.