Taika Waititi reluctantly lends his services to helping Tourism New Zealand in a new promotional campaign the organisation is launching this week.
In a teaser video, fellow New Zealand filmmaker Jackie van Beek phones the Thor: Ragnarok director while he's on set filming Our Flag Means Death to remind him about an obligation to do the promotional work.
"Jackie, look I can't, I'm busy," Waititi says while hurling a sword at an enemy on the beach.
"You gotta help me out. I need you. New Zealand needs you," she replies.
Waititi, now sitting in a makeup department, solemnly says to himself: "You heard her T-Bone, New Zealand needs you. You can't let them down."
The teaser clip doesn't show Waititi subsequently answering the patriotic call, but cuts to footage of white water rafting and a scenic flight over Fiordland, after earlier showing footage of a dolphin encounter boat on the Kaikōura coast.
The 30 second clip, uploaded to 100% Pure New Zealand's YouTube account on Monday, precedes a three-and-a-half minute video set to be released on Wednesday - which will "definitely" be starring Waititi, the teaser jokingly insists.
The There's No Place Like It On Earth campaign is being launched as Aotearoa seeks to attract more visitors as the tourism industry continues to recover from COVID-19.
Tourism New Zealand's Rene de Monchy told Reuters tourists from the US are a major target audience, but the promotional video will also play on social media platforms in Australia, Germany, the UK and parts of Asia.
"Competition is heating up and economic times are a bit tough in many parts of the world so we've got to keep being innovative and top of mind for people," de Monchy told Reuters.
The There's No Place Like It On Earth campaign is launching the same week as season two as the premiere of Our Flag Means Death, which was filmed in New Zealand.
