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A History of Air New Zealand's Crazy Celebrity Videos, Now Including the 'Playboy' Twins

October 10, 2011 at 1:51 PM | by | Comments (0)

They call it "Cuddle Class," but we affectionately think of it as "Economy Kama Sutra." That's right, we're talking about the infamous Air New Zealand Skycouch.

It's an unconventional seating idea—selling three economy seats with extra room as a kind of convertible bed for two passengers—and AirNZ has been going about marketing it in unconventional ways. But then, when have they ever been conventional? They have a pitch-black plane and body-painted crew for goshsakes!

Lately, however, Air New Zealand has taken the celebrity route to pitch the seats, involving such unlikely names as Richard Simmons, David Hasselhoff, Snoop Dogg and now...the scandalous Playboy twin ex-girlfriends of Hugh Hefner. Watch above as they flirt with AirNZ's latest mascots.

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'Everything's Better With Cute Animals,' and Doesn't Hipmunk Know It

July 29, 2011 at 2:00 PM | by | Comments (0)

We've made the point once or twice before, but not only do we adore innovative travel search engine Hipmunk on its merits, but there's also something about their cute little mascot that seems custom-built for the Internet. We're not sure that the success can be reduced down to a simple formula, except inasmuch as the Internet loves cute animals that are kind of animated, and the Hipmunk mascot is a cute animal that's kind of animated, and so the Internet loves the Hipmunk mascot.

Hmmm. Apparently it can be reduced to a simple formula after all.

So much can viral videos be reduced to formulas, apparently, that the Hipmunk people have gone ahead and done exactly that in their first stab at video advertising. Explaining on their blog that "everything's better with cute animals," the search engine brought together members of sketch comedy show SMBC theater and asked them to dress up like some of the Internet's most famous stars. Then they had the actors recreate those stars' most famous moments, the result being a series of homages to cute animals doing cute things (with some exceptions for annoying animals doing annoying things, because sometimes the Interwebs have a problem distinguishing cute from annoying).

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Grand Rapids, Michigan's Flash Mob Video About Death Goes Viral. Yay?

June 1, 2011 at 4:21 PM | by | Comments (0)

A few months ago Newsweek published its list of "America's Dying Cities," putting Grand Rapids, Michigan at #10. The rust belt city is demographically upside down, having lost more under-18 residents than it gained in the last decade. Wikipedia says that the per capita income for the city is $17,661, with one in every five children living below poverty. Being mayor is a part-time job. Literally.

In an effort to show that Newsweek was wrong and that they were still hip and relevant, Grand Rapids responded with a YouTube video of thousands of residents lipsyncing to Don McLean's American Pie. And to think, there are people out there who think that the Internet is dumbing down public debate.

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Why You Should Watch 'Girl Walks Into A Bar': Our SXSW Chat with Director Sebastian Gutierrez

March 9, 2011 at 3:16 PM | by | Comments (0)

Even if you can't make it to SXSW this weekend, you can still watch one of the fest's featured movies online, for free, at the same time it debuts in Austin. Girl Walks Into A Bar, which was written and directed by Sebastian Gutierrez, is the first major motion picture made exclusively for the internet.

The movie will debut on YouTube Friday, March 11, as it is simultaneously screened at South By Southwest.

Zachary Quinto stars in the movie as a dentist who hires a would-be assassin (played by Carla Gugino) to kill his wife. As he finalizes the assassin's payment, he unknowingly sets off a chain of events that fuels a cross-town journey through 10 of L.A.'s many lounges, bars, and strip clubs, all in one night. Girl's stellar cast also includes Danny DeVito, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Alexis Bledel, Josh Hartnett, and Rosario Dawson, among others.

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Ryanair Embraces YouTube, But Only to Mock Past and Future Customers

February 14, 2011 at 5:06 PM | by | Comment (1)

Irish LCC Ryanair has long been notorious for eschewing social media. Their reasoning is unclear, but we've always guessed it goes something like "if we engage our customers they might think we don't hate them, and then where will we be?" It turns out, though, that the airline makes exceptions on its embargo when it can use platforms like YouTube to be extra douchey.

You'll recall how, just before the weekend started, we posted this story about a near-riot that broke out on a Ryanair jet. A vacationing Belgian student had overpacked but refused to pay the airline's draconian baggage fees. He was duly denied entry onto the plane, which upset the students with whom he was vacationing, which led to something of a scuffle, which ended with dozens of arrests and the entire plane getting cleared. We kind of sort of sided with Ryanair, since we don't expect anything better from the airline and we don't understand how anyone else possibly could.

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Wear Clean Underwear for Your Next Airport Full-Body Scan

November 12, 2010 at 3:45 PM | by | Comments (2)

The hot topic these days is Full-Body Scanning and exactly how much radiation it gives you, or how much nakedness it reveals, or how much of a right the TSA has to force you into one at an airport. As a result, airport security is the butt of many jokes, but as the above Australian commercial and the Japanese comedy skit below reveal, this is far from the first time.

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Zach Anner Brings Wisecracks and His Wheelchair to a New Travel Show

August 9, 2010 at 10:31 AM | by | Comments (0)

Move over, Rick Steves. There's a new travel show host on the scene and he's much funnier than you. What also makes Zach Anner different is that he has cerebral palsy, which he says is the "sexiest of all the palsies.” Anner's condition is explained on his Facebook fan page: "He also is confined to a wheelchair like that kid from Glee, but for real, and can't sing."

The 26-year-old became an Internet darling for his hilarious audition video to Oprah's Your OWN Show contest. The comedian proposed that if he got his own show, it would focus on travel "for people who never thought they could travel" that would tell you "how to have the perfect vacation when things don't go right at all."

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Could the Jail With the Thriller-Dancing Inmates Become a Tourist Site?

February 2, 2010 at 9:35 AM | by | Comments (0)

We've all seen it and thought it the weirdest/awesomest thing ever: the prisoners who perform the full dance routine for Michael Jackson's Thriller in the prison yard. Back in July 2007 when this video hit YouTube, it took the world by storm and now has garnered over 38 million views. We're sure we're not the only ones to wonder exactly where this prison with rhythm is, and thanks to a little digging, we've discovered its location.

Although it could probably become a tourist destination if the prison was open to giving performances, we doubt there are any plans for that happen—so long as they've still got access to YouTube.

See where the inmates dance to Jackson, after the jump

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The Anne Frank House Joins YouTube With New Footage

Where: Prinsengracht 267, Amsterdam, Netherlands
October 15, 2009 at 9:18 AM | by | Comments (0)

A museum's newest treasure has become an international sensation thanks to the magic of Web 2.0. The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam has already strengthened its international profile in 2009 by sending a traveling exhibit called "Anne Frank - A History For Today" all around the world, from San Antonio to Soweto.

Last week, the museum—commemorating the teenage girl whose wartime diary chronicled her family's attempts to avoid the Nazis by hiding in the attic of an office building—took its subject to your home. Yes, you, sitting right there in front of that computer; the museum launched its own YouTube channel. The centerpiece is not a chat with Nelson Mandela or the testimony of diary finder Miep Gies, but instead a recently discovered bit of footage of Anne herself, the only such known moving image of her in the world.

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Put Your Hands Together For 'United Breaks Guitars' Part Two

August 18, 2009 at 1:03 PM | by | Comments (0)

The saga of the PR nightmare for United Airlines continues with the second installment of the 3-part music video series from a United passenger who had his guitar smashed by baggage handlers.

The music group, Sons of Maxwell, were headed on a week-long tour when they flew United through Chicago, and glimpsed their checked guitar cases being roughly handled on the tarmac. Sure enough, the lead singer's guitar was broken and required $1,200 in repairs. United refused to pony up any dough in retribution, and so Sons of Maxwell vowed revenge in the form of musical shame.

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All Together Now: 'United Breaks Guitars'

July 7, 2009 at 2:49 PM | by | Comments (0)

We were tipped off to this funny video by Chris Elliott's Twitter about a band called Sons of Maxwell who were headed to Nebraska on a week-long tour. But at the airport in Chicago they actually witnessed the baggage handlers at United Airlines tossing the lead singer's Taylor $3,500 guitar which sure enough, arrived broken.

Frustrated by United's crappy customer service and refusal to do anything about the damage, Sons of Maxwell created a YouTube music video slamming United for their indifference.

The video sort of reminds us of the FreeCreditReport.com videos and at four minutes long, it's a tad lengthy for us busy internet readers but it's nice to see someone putting United in their place in a different way than just writing off a nasty letter. Oh and Sons of Maxwell are promising two more videos about this incident as well. United: We're awaiting your answer. Make it a video one too!

Related Stories:
· United Breaks Guitars [YouTube]
· United Airlines coverage [Jaunted

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China Pulls the Plug On Social Media; No More Tweeting From the Great Wall

Where: China
June 2, 2009 at 1:07 PM | by | Comments (0)

Our Chinese visa expired last month, and after today's news we doubt we'll be renewing it any time soon. Seeking to quiet social media networks before the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre on June 4, China has blocked the population from accessing a surprising range of the internet's most popular communication tools. Currently affected by the ban are: Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, Wordpress, Blogger, Bing (which hasn't officially even launched), Hotmail and MSN's Live.com.

While there's no word yet on if this ban will continue after Thursday, what is apparent is that the country is only drawing more attention to itself at the same time as it cripples the communication channels of its modern businesses. Taking this one step further, we see serious repercussions for tourism to China because of it.

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