Air nz ad rocks the headlines

Two daughters of a woman who died in the Mt Erebus disaster have rejected claims that Air New Zealand's use of "whoop whoop" in advertising is insensitive...

There was a "whoop whoop" warning from a ground-proximity system just before an Air New Zealand DC-10 crashed into Antarctica's Mt Erebus in 1979, killing 257 people.

A new Air New Zealand domestic-fare campaign uses "whoop whoop!" at the bottom of an advertisement, below the words "Let's party like it's $19.99". The advertisement has prompted a woman who lost her father in the crash to label the airline's use of the phrase as insensitive.

"It definitely tugs at the heartstrings," Jayne Holtham said. "The second you say that, you remember the last few seconds of the flight."

Holtham's father, Bryan, died in the air disaster.

"It is pretty s... marketing, obviously they're not even thinking about that," she said.

However, Susan O'Rourke, whose mother Marlene Hansen was a passenger on the flight, said the phrase did not upset her.

"It's commonly used. I have even used it on my Facebook page, so I've got no issues with it," she said.

"It's used all over the world by many different people, especially younger ones."

O'Rourke's sister, Melanie Fishburn, said she was not worried by the phrase. However, the sisters said they understood why some relatives might be upset.

In a statement, an airline spokeswoman said the words referred to a "party phrase".

"The theme of the advert is `Let's Party' and DJs at dance parties will often call out, `Can I get a whoop whoop?' and the crowd responds with `Whoop whoop!'."

The company apologised if anyone was offended.

Source: www.stuff.co.nz