Alaska Airlines has taken inspiration from the ‘Men Without Hats’ hit single Safety Dance with its very own parody version that the airline hopes will remind everyone to keep on wearing their face masks.
But while the original 1983 song was a protest at overzealous health and safety rules brought in to protect disco dancers at clubs, the Alaska Airlines has a very serious message behind the humor and choreography.
“With our safety protocols in place, including mandatory masks, enhanced cleaning between flights, HEPA air filtration and touch-free technology we believe it’s safe to fly,” the airline explained. But having tried every other method of convincing passengers that it’s safe to fly, the Safety Dance is definitely a new way of getting the message across.
Filmed in the Alaska Maintenance Hangar at the airline’s hub in Seattle, as well as a Boeing 737 cabin trainer mockup, the video was directed by Warren Fu – who has previously created music videos for Dua Lipa, The Weeknd, Daft Punk and HAIM.
The star’s of the video were, of course, Alaska’s very own employees – some of whom hadn’t even danced before. The cast was given videos of the choreography to practice at home before an intense eight-hour dress rehearsal the day before two day’s of shooting got underway.
Along with the cast, there were also 40 production staff involved in the project, although Alaska says everyone involved had to have a COVID-19 test, wear masks throughout and comply with social distancing regulations.
With any luck, it might not be too long until this video is no longer needed.
