Watch: 10 years of Air NZ safety videos

American actor Rick Hoffman from Suits, appears in a new Air NZ safety video. Photo/ Supplied

Air New Zealand will release its new safety video tomorrow, the latest in a 10-year series of videos that have been viewed 177 million times online.

The new video (what it here) features Suits actor Rick Hoffman playing a starring role alongside All Blacks and other big sports names.

The last video it made - its Kiwi as rap effort - was widely panned and apparently left some cabin crew cringing. And although one advertising industry executive has told the Herald the overall concept is in desperate need of a refresh, another ad expert says they still work for the airline as long as they aren't duds.

''Over the years there's been more hits than misses,'' said Ben Goodale.

While the recent rap video was a miss, others featuring the All Blacks had been popular and the latest one in the lead-up to the Rugby World Cup stood to resonate well with viewers.

This included overseas audiences, an important target with the video campaigns, he said.

Goodale, who had more than 20 years in the ad industry, said the videos were part of an overall advertising and marketing strategy including direct email messages to customers and more traditional brand campaigns.

He said the airline helped pioneer the quirky safety videos which were a great way of getting passengers' attention to important safety messages and also promoting the country and the brand of the airline to a captive audience.

Air New Zealand says its most popular videos were the Hobbit-inspired safety video The Most Epic Safety Video Ever Made and An Unexpected Briefing which have more than 42 million global views and rising.

''Air New Zealand uses its safety videos to shine a global spotlight on a number of iconic destinations and attractions the airline flies to; including LA, Cook Islands, Japan and destinations across regional New Zealand,'' said a spokeswoman.

Air New Zealand has worked with many actors and comedians from both New Zealand and offshore – including the cast of The Hobbit (twice), Betty White, Richard Simmons and Anna Faris, models – such as Chrissy Teigen and Rachel Hunter, sports stars, including the All Blacks and international surfers.

The airline, by size ranked about halfway in the pack among about 200 carriers around the world, sees the videos as being a way of capturing attention, relatively inexpensively.

While the airline front-footed the negative feedback at the rap video by releasing a mock job ad for a new head of safety videos Jodi Williams, its global brand and content marketing manager is still overseeing the programme.

In the video to be released on August 1, Hoffman plays a lawyer in the rugby themed video alongside a star-studded Kiwi cast which features several All Blacks, including head coach Steve Hansen and captain Kieran Read, actor Cliff Curtis, former Black Ferns captain Fiao'o Fa'amausili and members of the World Cup-winning 1987 All Blacks squad. David Kirk, who captained the side, is tipped to have a role in the video.

Former Wallabies captain George Gregan who got to taunt the All Blacks about a later lack of cup success also gets a role.

The Suits actor - who acted alongside Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle - first visited New Zealand in 2017 and took to Twitter then praising the airline as being "by far the most accommodating" airline in the world, and "insisting" on being Air New Zealand's next spokesman.

''Rick's on and off-screen personality is infectious and goes hand in hand with the character of our tongue-in-cheek safety videos,'' said Williams.