2 DEC: Air NZ has killed off its controversial puppet Rico.
The mascot, sometimes criticised for smutty references, has won the airline global attention and a marketing award over the past 12 months.
More than 4.5m people have watched Rico YouTube videos and one involving rap artist Snoop Dog attracted almost 600,000 views.
However, critics have described the marketing strategy as "creepy", "very unclassy" and not a good match with Air NZ’s premier branding.
In a media release yesterday, the airline said Rico passed away during a party in a Los Angeles mansion and invited fans go to website www.byebyerico.com to see how it heppened.
