Air New Zealand's Hobbit-themed safety video starring famous director Peter Jackson has gathered over nine million global hits since it launched just two weeks ago, prompting the company to release a behind the scenes clip.
The original clip, called 'An Unexpected Briefing', was the first instalment in the company's multimillion dollar two-year global marketing collaboration with forthcoming Lord of the Rings prequel trilogy, The Hobbit.
It featured a range of the series' recognisable characters as well as director Peter Jackson and great-grandsons of Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien, Mike and Royd Tolkien.
It was produced in conjunction with Weta Workshop, Jackson's company behind the films, and has been showcased on Twitter by the airline with the hashtag #AirNZHobbit.
Since launching on 1 November, the video has been viewed nearly nine million times on YouTube.
The airline has now released a behind the scenes clip to complement the video featuring interviews with the cast and crew.
Air New Zealand general manager marketing and communications Mike Tod said: "The video has been a phenomenal hit globally clocking up more than eight million views on YouTube and around a million more on its equivalent in China.
"It really is quite amazing to think that on average more than 30,000 people an hour have been watching the video since it was launched and the equivalent of more than twice the population of New Zealand have now seen it."
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