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Airlines are like advertisements: they get you from point A to point B. Whether that point is a tangible destination or a stream of thoughts that lead you to their online checkout page, airline advertisements are as simple and direct as a red-eye flight. I analyze a handful of online airline ads from Oceania, from things as simple as the models’ positionings and poses to the more in-depth topics, like femininity and masculinity to showcase just how much thought and intentionality goes behind an advertisement.

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The first stop is Air New Zealand. Its location was used throughout many Lord of the Rings films, but Adweek writer, Diana Pearl, says New Zealand isn’t a first-thought destination for many North Americans. Air New Zealand introduced the ad you see above in 2017, bragging about the ease and simplicity of direct flights from Chicago to New Zealand, making the Polynesian getaway as simple as booking a flight.

Their motto, “A Better Way to Fly,” starring Pete, a fictitious bird, voiced by celebrity Jurassic Park actor, Sam Neill. The animated smile of the kiwi-inspired bird, with its laid-back blue ball cap, round belly, and flowery towel, further reinforces the idea of “an innovative inflight offering enabling travelers to sit back, relax, and enjoy the direct service to New Zealand,” (BusinessWire, 2017). Though race isn’t deliberately examined within this ad, it’s important to note that Pete is inspired by the national bird of New Zealand, a recognizable staple to those citizens. Not to mention, Pete is a flightless bird, adding to the further playful irony that Pete also needs a direct flight to his homeland!

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Albeit subtle, Lauren Burton and Francis L. Collins, dissect the symbolism, manipulation, and the imaginary in advertising when it comes to anthropomorphic animals. They argue that “gender, anthropomorphism, and the placement of animals in everyday media…. play an important role in constituting the meaning and limits of our relationships with nonhuman life,” (2014). Herein lies the importance of Sam Neill’s voice—he is the connection between one culture and another. But that is where the masculinity of hegemony comes in—passing Sam Neill off, aka “Pete,” as the normal ‘everyday’ traveler. The Journal of Human Resources followed over 8,000 unique businesses, in over 60 countries, in the year 2014 and found only 25% of those air travelers were women. This subtle but important distinction in gender selection must not go unnoticed.

Pete’s head is aimed towards the text of the image, drawing a viewer’s attention towards the most important words: “Fly non-stop…” With a wide-shot view of a beach in the background, one can only assume this is one of New Zealand’s many beaches open for visitors. The thick italicized serif font is a decorative typeface that adds to the idea of ease and simplicity, as if to say, “You simply must book today!”

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What an unfortunate shape. Can’t argue that it’ll make viewers laugh and therefore, be a memorable advertisement.

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Make sure your seatbelt is still buckled as we make our first stop in the Kingdom of Hawai’i. Noah Dolim’s Misperceptions of the “Hula Girl” mentions the stereotypical “hula girl graces,” (2014). “She is adorned with tropical flowers, complete with a coconut bra. A visitor watches her from his seat at the tiki bar. The bar is lined with wooden images, and torches surround the perimeter. Another slender maiden brings him an alcoholic beverage,” (2014, pg. 1). Now let us turn our attention to the male gaze.

Perceptions of the Hawaiian men consisted previously of “passivity, lazy, soft, and non-threatening and nearly invisible,” who sleep and surf all day, with the opposite end of the stereotype spectrum displaying these same men as violent, aggressive daredevils, experts in self-discipline and physical agility (Dolim, et al., 2014, pg. 26-27).  Add that to the additional American military presence in lower-income communities, this gives, mainly men, “unique resources for the construction of masculine identity defined by emotional control, overt heterosexual desire, physical fitness, self-discipline, self-reliance, the willingness to use aggression and physical violence,” (Dolim, et al., 2014, pg. 27).

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Pictured here is this assumed self-reliant Hawaiian man. His physical fitness and tatted skin are the pinnacles of some intangible and ill-defined notion of masculinity. Yet his outstretched arms, with his back turned towards the viewer, is a new take on the known stereotype. This model is graceful and quite possibly, in mid-dance, as we assume from his adornments of greenery. The selection of a male dancer over a female Hawaiian may connect back to the New Zealand ad above, signaling a notion to men that reconnection to masculinity is as simple as a plane ride away. “For society, gender means difference,” so it is imperative to note what is there as well as what isn’t and what that may mean for the advertisement’s accidental or intentional choices (Kidd, 2016, pg. 100). The wider, sans-serif font is a complimentary choice for the message being displayed. Its typeface is as spread out and welcoming as the model’s movements, which are perfectly symmetrical in regards to the camera angle, begging viewers to make Hawai’i their next travel destination.

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As we begin our slow descent to our final destination, please keep your hands and feet inside the cabin at all times as we land with Fiji Airways. Pictured above is a woman dancing, with another man and woman sitting down behind her in celebration. Her posture has the main dancer leaning to the left-hand side, as to make room for the Fiji Airway plane soaring off in the background. This is not unintentional.

The massive and bold sans serif font has “Fiji” in eye-catching letters—a sign that the destination is more important than the journey. But in case a viewer was curious, in a different font and slightly smaller letters, you can fly non-stop from Dallas, Texas to Fiji. This is in construct to the Air New Zealand ad above where the non-stop flights were in a matching font with the rest of the advertisement. But here, all that matters is Fiji.

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This ad is a bit unique because now we have multiple, smiling faces representing a culturally appropriate setting with, we assume, ethnically appropriate models portraying their own culture. We have another dancer adorned in fabrics and patterns of Fijian ways. This promotion of a spiritual and cultural visit to Fiji is not lost on the viewer either. “Intangible aspects of culture and heritage, such as traditional dances, rituals, and events, and their impact on human well-being, demonstrate their close link to local landscapes and seascapes, suggesting that the local environment cannot be untangled from the spiritual and culture well-being and aesthetics benefits, for visitors and residents alike,” (Tyllianakis, et al., 2019, pg. 7). Visitors want a more culturally accurate, honest, and sustainable vacation destination. This advertisement seems to make viewers think that is more than possible to achieve.

In contrast with the ads I’ve analyzed today, we have a clear representation of the third wave of feminism—a somewhat balanced push for gender equality. The women depicted are not sexualized nor presented in a “damsel in distress” lens. The man present is not portrayed as a fatherly figure or a “hero” watching over the girls in the middle of this empty hillside environment. He is an equal partner and friend, enjoying and celebrating the Fijian way.

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Thank you for waiting for the captain to turn off the seatbelt sign. Please remain patient as we deboard the cabin!

I analyzed the presence of subtle and sneaky ideals of patriarchy in New Zealand and Hawaiian airline advertisements to show us the dirty but implicit side of advertising through stereotypes of masculinity (even in anthropomorphic birds)! Additionally, I dissected what a healthier and more balanced ad may look like representing different cultures and genders appropriately, though it does leave room for more LGBTQIA2S+ representation in the future.

Whether casual viewers realize it or not, they are being ushered into a new mode of thought transportation. The next time you see an airline ad, ask yourself what subtle cultural notions is it making based on your in-depth or stereotypical knowledge of an indigenous culture. Is it depending on or drawing on your own sexist biases? Or is it promoting a truly balanced and equal image?

When you read the word “captain” above, did an older white male pop into your brain as you pictured it? Or did any of the Austronesian people we examined in these ads pop up? It’s important to dissect the quiet prejudices we face in everyday media and what is truly being expressed as we do live in a patriarchal country. Decide what your definitions of gender may be to bring out better discussions and hopefully, better advertisements, in the future and across the globe.

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Air New Zealand launches its first Global Brand Campaign in North America. Air New Zealand

Launches Its First Global Brand Campaign in North America | Business Wire. (2017,

August 24). https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170824006163/en/

Burton, L., & Collins, F. L. (2014). Mediated animal geographies: Symbolism, manipulation and

the imaginary in advertising. Social &amp; Cultural Geography, 16(3), 276–298.

https://doi.org/10.1080/14649365.2014.979863

Dolim, N. (2014). Misperceptions of the “Hula Girl.” Hohonu - University of Hawai’i at Hilo, 12.

Donna, J. D., & Veramendi, G. (2018). Gender differences within the firm: Evidence from two

million travelers. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3285202

Pearl, Diana (2018, October 3). How air New Zealand is shattering the illusion that NZ is an

unattainable destination for Americans. Adweek.

https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/how-air-new-zealand

Tyllianakis, E., Grilli, G., Gibson, D., Ferrini, S., Conejo-Watt, H., & Luisetti, T. (2019). Policy

options to achieve culturally-aware and environmentally-sustainable tourism in Fiji.

Marine Pollution Bulletin, 148, 107–115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.07.031

Vasconcellos, K. D. (2014). Hawaiian Male Adolescent Students’ Perceptions of Masculinity

(dissertation). UH at Manoa, Honolulu.