The words “Fasten your seatbelt” have never been so alluring.
But not everyone was impressed with Air New Zealand’s latest in-flight video, which puts scantily clad Sports Illustrated models front and center to share the airline’s safety messages.
The video, titled “Safety in Paradise,” features Australia’s Jessica Gomes along with Christie Brinkley, Chrissy Teigen, Hannah Davis and Ariel Meredith running through the routine airplane safety pointers while looking glamorous in their bikinis on the shores of the Cook Islands.
The four-minute clip, which has been viewed more than 5 million times on YouTube, sparked an online backlash, with a petition attracting 10,000 signatures on change.org.
Led by Melbourne woman Natasha Young, the petition says the safety video is sexist and “should not be an excuse to objectify the sexualized female body.”
“This video completely disregards passengers who find it offensive for religious reasons, who have body image struggles, who are parents concerned about their children’s impressionable nature, who believe women deserve more respect, and who have teenage daughters who deserve more respect,” the petition reads.
“This video is culturally insensitive; it disregards those who are conservative by nature and are uncomfortable with its imagery and disregards passengers who have been exposed to sexual assault.
“Air NZ appears determined to insist that skies are sexy regardless of who they offend.”
Some people (well, men) loved the video, others found it sexist, and more couldn’t see what the fuss was about.
An Air New Zealand spokeswoman told BuzzFeed that the video was not pulled due to the online backlash and it was always intended to be removed after it had completed its run.
The video was created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition.
Air NZ has a reputation for producing left-of-center safety videos, with Betty White of “Golden Girls” starring in one called “Safety Old School Style,” and director Peter Jackson appearing in a Hobbit-themed one called “An Unexpected Briefing.”
This article originally appeared on News.com.au.