Keep fighting the good fight, American theme park-goers.
It’s now been two years since the release of Blackfish – the now-infamous documentary skewering theme park SeaWorld over its disturbing AF treatment of killer whales – yet the fall-out continues, with an 85% drop in net-quarter income, from $37.4 million in 2014 to $5.8 million in 2015.
That’s on top of declining attendance and much social media trolling, and in spite of a $10 million PR push by the folks over at SeaWorld Entertainment to repair its tattered image.
The save-campaign involves an overhauled marketing department, and a lame AF online “truth campaign” called Ask SeaWorld, which offers detailed information about how SeaWorld supposedly cares for its animals for all the people who don’t believe them.
ICYMI, Blackfish, which screened at Sundance in 2013, trained a really ugly light on the park’s treatment of orcas and the consequences of keeping an animal that swims an average of 75 miles per day in tanks i.e. they can go bat-shit crazy, as was the case with the whale Tilikum, who killed orca trainer Dawn Brancheau back in 2010.
The doco sparked widespread outrage that spilled over into social media, with campaigns calling to free Tilikum and boycott the park completely using hashtags like #DontGoToSeaWorld and #ThanksButNoTanks.
Here’s the trailer:
In short, it’s been an ongoing complete-fucking-nightmare of a PR disaster ever since, and it doesn’t look like people are going to let up anytime soon because JUSTICE.
Of course, SeaWorld Entertainment is blaming everything other than Blackfish for the 85% profit dip, including shitty spring break tourism due to the timing of Easter, record wet weather in Texas and “brand challenges” in California.
Us rn:
