Sea World Launches New Ad Campaign to Repair Negative Image
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Magnolia Pictures(ORLANDO, Fla.) — SeaWorld is launching a major ad campaign on Tuesday in hopes of improving the company’s battered image in the wake of a damaging documentary.
The media blitz also comes on the same day that one of SeaWorld’s former whale trainers, John Hargrove, who was featured in Blackfish, releases a book critical of the company.
SeaWorld says the timing is just a coincidence.
Since Blackfish came out in 2013, attendance at the company’s theme parks in Florida and California has dropped off. In the documentary, animal rights activists accuse SeaWorld of mistreating its animals, including the theme parks’ star attraction: killer whales.
SeaWorld is trying to counter those images with print ads in major newspapers Tuesday, defending the company’s practices, and media highlighting its generosity. The company is also committing $10 million to study endangered orcas in the wild.
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