Qatar Airways Enlists FC Barcelona for Its New In-Flight Safety Video

Qatar Airways is the latest airline to turn its in-flight safety video into an entertainment product, this time going the extra step to incorporate the Spanish football team it sponsors as participants in the messaging.

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The Gulf carrier’s new video takes place in a broadcast booth, the team’s touring bus, a stadium’s seats, and a football pitch, among other sites. An airplane only makes an appearance as a drawing next to star Lionel Messi (who on his own is one of Turkish Air’s leading pitchmen).

The message is the same as it is with every airline, but with football stars and their fans in the role of flight attendants and pilots. So when the airline is telling you, for instance, what to do when oxygen masks drop, it’s a handsome footballer and his female fans who are so overwhelmed by his presence that they need an assisted breather. And when they explain the workings of inflatable vests, it’s striker

Luis Suarez, who looks at his inflatable life vest like he wants to bit into it.

Airlines have turned to the in-flight video as part of their content marketing strategies in ever increasing numbers, with Air New Zealand leading the way with multiple new videos every year. While they’re entertaining — unless you’re a frequent flyer — their ability to inform is undetermined.