SeaWorld tries to stamp out killer whale criticism with bold new ad campaign

SeaWorld tries to stamp out killer whale criticism with bold new ad campaign

The "Ask Sea World" effort aims to counter claims from the "Blackfish" documentary and a new book that alleges the park mistreats its orcas.

SeaWorld has launched a major ad campaign to help repair its tattered image as an abuser of killer whales, but animal rights activists are already firing back.

Called “Ask SeaWorld,” the campaign began on March 23 and included TV and print advertisements that ask the public to submit questions to them through Twitter about the treatment of animals at SeaWorld parks, according to a USA Today report.

The website that visitors are directed to has videos of veterinarians and trainers who work at the park talking about conditions there.

It’s an attempt to curtail the backlash SeaWorld has received ever since the 2013 documentary Blackfish shed an unflattering light on how the organizations treats its captive orcas, and questions whether orcas should be kept in captivity at all. Also, the campaign comes at about the same time as a tell-all book by John Hargrove, a former SeaWorld trainer who says the company mistreats killer whales.

SeaWorld denies that the ad campaign has anything to do with the book release, according to the report.

Among the video ads that SeaWorld released is one featuring veterinarian Chris Dold, who says the claim that killer whales don’t live as long in captivity as the wild is false. While the report indicates that may be true, it doesn’t take into account quality of life and the fact that those in captivity don’t face predators and get regular veterinary care.

SeaWorld says that the response to the campaign has been “overwhelmingly positive,” but many can be found on Twitter using the #AskSeaWorld hashtag to criticize the company.

Jared Goodman, who is the director of animal law at the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals foundation, said in the report that the company should worry less about spending millions of dollars to rehab its image and more on rehabbing the orcas.

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