PR Cases Project

SEA WORLD V.BLACKFISH1
Running Head: Sea World v. Blackfish
Sea World v. Blackfish
Jessica L. Franklin
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Public Relations Cases

“The media is the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the
innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control
the mind of the masses.”
- Malcom X
In today’s society, the media plays a huge role in peoples everyday lives. Mass media is
a strong tool that a company can use to its advantage. However, when a company finds
itself in the midst of a true crisis the mass media can also damage the company and its
reputation. In July of 2013, CNN Films released a documentary known as Blackfish
which “compiles shocking footage and emotional interviews to explore killer whales
extraordinary nature, the species’ cruel treatment in captivity, the lives and losses of the
trainers and the pressures brought to bear by the multi-billion dollar sea park industry”
according to the films synopsis. Even though all the information in the film may not be
factual, it started a movement and shaped public opinion about animals being held in
captivity, particularly at Sea World. Sea World is an amusement park in the United
States that is famous for the oceanic animals it keeps at the park. Sea World has three
different parks and at those different locations there are a total of 23 orca whales. After
the release of the documentary, Sea World received major criticism for its captivity of
orca wales, as well as company ethics which has caused the park to suffer. Sea World
found itself in the midst of a smoldering crisis and had to act defensively against the
many animal rights activist’s petitions and negative accusations.
The media was not on the side of Sea World in this case, and the negative press it
received tarnished the company’s reputation and caused a drastic decline in sales. Sea
World got into a media war with Blackfish producers and animal rights activists, and had
to implement effective crisis management. It was crucial for the company to practice
effective consumer and media relations during this crisis and win back the trust of the
public. Sea World is still working on rebuilding the company to what it once was before
the release of the film, however, they have made great strides in changing the values
and vision of the organization by using an open system. Sea World realized over time
that it needed to change with the values and attitudes of today’s society, and it adjusted
and adapted to change, with management sensitive to all interactions in the

environment (Center 4). According to an article written by Greg Norman on Fox News,
Sea World is aware of the success that the animal rights activists groups had in
changing the public’s perception about animals in captivity, and they are making
changes to gain back the public’s trust and move with society. In its first step to change
with society, Sea World recently announced in March of 2016 that “the killer whales
currently living at its facilities will be its last as it will stop breeding them immediately and
phase out theatrical orca shows” (Bomey 2016). Now Sea World will begin to turn its
attention to “new, inspiring, natural encounters with educational encounters
emphasizing enrichment, exercise and health with its remaining killer whales” (Bomey
2016). This is a large step in the right direction in Sea Worlds road to recovery.
Explore, Inspire, Act: A Little History
Sea World first opened in 1964 and since the very beginning it has always placed an
emphasis on animal welfare, educating publics about wildlife, and encouraging people
to connect with and preserve the natural world. According to its website, “the parks’ up-
close animal encounters, educational attractions, and innovative entertainment are
designed to inspire guests of all ages to celebrate, connect with, and care for the natural
world around them.” The emphasis Sea World places on animal welfare is obvious in its
mission statement, which reads:
To apply basic physiological research efforts and state-of-the-art reproductive
technologies toward wildlife species management and conservation
 Research is performed to gain an understanding of the relationships among
reproductive endocrinology, anatomy, behavior and physiological events such as
ovulation and parturition.
 This knowledge is applied to cooperative captive management practices, in
collaboration with government and non-government organizations, to facilitate
both natural and assisted breeding strategies.
 Our cooperative management practices enable zoological institutions to maintain
maximal genetic diversity and optimal social environments within captive
populations.

 Tools developed through ex situ research on reproductive monitoring and assisted
breeding can be integrated into in situ population management and
conservation strategies
Target Audiences: Forgetting Someone?
For years Sea World was a profitable success and was loved by many, especially its
three main target audience’s: families, children, and all military personnel along with
their dependents. Sea World particularly favors those who are currently serving or have
served in the military by offering them free admission and special discounts to all its
parks, according to Sea Worlds website. However, Sea World in the past always had
one problem, which was that it operated as a closed system organization and forgot to
include animal rights activists as a key public. Blackfish may have started to influence
the broader audience, not just animal’s rights activists, to change the way they feel
about animals in captivity and question Sea Worlds ethics. However, it wasn’t the first
attempt to get Sea World to change the way it operates. Protest by animals rights
activists against Sea World dates back to the opening days of Sea World San Antonio in
1987. On My San Antonio’s webpage, there are photographs of protestors holding signs
that read “happiness is an open ocean” and “if you love Shamu set him free.” Had Sea
World included animal rights activists as a key public, listened to their demands, and
communicated with that public then Sea World possibly could have avoided the
Blackfish crisis all together.
Take a Step Back: Sea World before Blackfish Release
According to The Washington Post, before the release of Blackfish, Sea Worlds
attendance was running annually about 10 million. However, after the release in 2013,
by 2014 the company reported that “revenue decreased 7.3%, which is a result of a
4.7% decrease in attendance” (McCoy 2014). This did not come as a shock to Sea
World, according to Mike DeForest from Channel 6 News, “in a February 2013
corporate filing, prior to the release of Blackfish, Sea World warned investors that a
documentary about the marine park “may harm our reputation, reduce attendance and
negatively impact our business.” Before the film was released to the general public, Sea

World sent out an email to film critics claiming that the allegations made about the
company in the film were “shamefully dishonest” (Boylan 2013). The emails also says
that the claims made in the film about Sea Worlds practices are “deliberately
misleading” and also that “what the film presents as unvarnished reality is anything but”
(Boylan 2013).
Fast Forward to Release: Sea World’s First Steps- Ignore the Problem
A few short days after the email to film critics was sent out the film was released. After
the initial release, Sea World was not very direct and aggressive in its reaction to
Blackfish. At first, Sea World tried to fix the problem with a simple marketing strategy by
offering a “tasty price cut” on its tickets to attract consumers in August of 2013 (Green
2015). Green states that this came as a result of attendance rates falling 9% since the
previous year. However, instead of addressing the documentary as the reason for
declining sales, Sea World attributed the decline to “higher prices, holidays, and bad
weather” (Green 2015). The rest of 2013 sales were continuing to decline and finally in
December of 2013, Sea World started to react and not avoid the issue.
First Taste of Public Relations
When cutting ticket prices wasn’t enough, public relations stepped in with one clear
goal: to save the reputation of its brand by “rebutting criticism raised by the film and the
animal-rights activist promoting it” (Green 2015). The company’s strategy was to
shutdown Blackfish’s false accusations by providing the public with facts about the
company, how it treat its animals, and all the conservation efforts the company
participates in. In December of 2013, the company took its first step by buying full page
ads in the New York Times, USA Today, and other major papers (Green 2015). The ad,
which did not publically call out Blackfish, was an open letter from Sea Worlds Animal
Right Advocates that “defends the way Sea World cares for the whales in its corporate
collection” (Green 2015). Sea World also launched an online campaign called ‘Truth
about Blackfish’ which offers 69 reasons why people should not believe the
documentary, and shows examples of false statements that were made against them.
This approach, however, was not strong enough and Sea World would soon find itself in
more trouble.

A Series of Unfortunate Events
The year following the release of Blackfish was hard on the company. In the course of
one year:
 Sea World CEO Jim Atchison stepped down (Titlow 2015).
 Southwest Airlines ended its 26-year long relationship with Sea World (Titlow
2015).
 Investors filed a lawsuit against Sea World, “accusing executives of misleading
investors about the effects the documentary Blackfish has had on park
attendance” (DeForest 2014).
 Company stock was down 37% by the end of 2014.
Those major events that occurred in 2014 that would ultimately lead Sea World public’s
relations staff to make some changes and take a more aggressive approach to
reputation management (Titlow 2015).
Public Relation: Direct and Aggressive Reputation Management
The goal for Sea World remained clear: save the reputation of the company by
“rebutting criticism raised by the film and the animal-rights activist promoting it” (Green
2015). Sea World started taking a more aggressive approach to save its reputation and
started with laying off 311 of its employees, many of whom worked in the marketing
department (Titlow 2015). A big step was appointing Joel Manby, an experienced
theme-park industry veteran, as the new company CEO (Titlow 2105). Under Manbys
new leadership, Sea Worlds strategy to achieve its goal became to “double down on its
message and marketing efforts with a multifaceted campaign designed to shift the focus
from the whales it holds in captivity” (Titlow 2015).
Another strategy that was implemented under Manbys leadership was a “cross-media
campaign” designed to paint a more humane picture of Sea World and deflect some of
the more egregious charges leveled by Blackfish and critics like PETA” (Titlow 215).
Under new leadership, Sea World used a more direct approach to fight for its reputation,
and the company used many different tactics, channels of communications, and PR

campaigns to repair its image. The PR staff at Sea World would have to focus on two
main activities to implement its strategy:
1. They would need to concentrate “the publicity and promotion activities on taking
customers away from competition” (Center 110). The concentration here would
be to draw consumers away from the misleading Blackfish fact using publicity
and promotion activities that tells Sea Worlds truth and shows how they care for
its animals.
2. The PR staff would need to “protect the reputation of the service, and of the
organization, in a period of consumer activism, government regulation, or similar
conditions that bring a continual bevy of public issues to bear on every
organization and industry” (Center 111). Sea World would do this by directly and
aggressively going after Blackfish producers and laying out the facts of its
company and what it does.
Truth Campaign
Sea Worlds ‘Truth Campaign” is one of its largest PR efforts in reputation management.
The campaign focuses on Sea Worlds “veterinary staff and animals rescued from
harrowing circumstances” (Titlow 2015). Jill Kermes, senior corporate affairs officer at
Sea World, claimed that the company is thinking of new ways to engage with the public
and tell their story” which they have done through the internet, social media, and both
print and broadcast ads.
Ask Sea World
In 2015, Sea World launched a website called Ask Sea World, which “offers detailed
information about how Sea World cares for its animals and other rebuttals and charges
made against the company” (Titlow 2015). The purpose of this website, according to
Kermes, was to showcase that there is a lot of misleading information about that park
and the website is meant to “start that conversation with consumers and give them a
place to get the facts about Sea World, our animals, about our world-class animal care,
and let them make up their own minds” (Titlow 2015). Ask Sea World is part of the Sea

World Cares website, which features articles on Sea Worlds rescue and rehabilitation
programs, videos, an orca profile, and a blog. The website also features an issues
column, where the park addresses issues of longevity, collection, killer whale care,
separation, and habitat (Sea World Cares).
#AskSeaWorld Twitter Campaign
The twitter campaign had the same concept as the webpage, and was meant to be give
Sea World an opportunity to defend itself and speak its message of truth to all
audiences. However, the twitter campaign was a PR failure and every tweet that Sea
World made was criticized and sparked a twitter war between Sea World supporters
and critics (Titlow 2015). After the social media fail, Sea World chose to shift its PR
efforts to mostly one-way channels of communication like print or broadcast.
Orca Ad Campaign
Orca ads started appearing in print publications in 2015, and the ads “feature Sea World
veterinarians and researchers defending the care of the orcas kept at the company’s
parks while refuting attacks by animals rights groups like PETA”, (Huddleston Jr. 2015).
The orca ad campaign was meant to counter the claim that orcas in captivity have a
shorter lifespan than those in the wild (Huddleston Jr. 2015). The ads also emphasize
the emotional and personal aspects of caring for killer whales, by featuring a Sea World
veterinarian and a member of its rescue team in the ad.
Meet the Animals Television Ad Campaign
In an attempt to turn attention away from the orcas, Sea World launched a television
campaign known as “Meet the Animals” which introduces a 9-year-old sea lion that lives
at Sea World. The purpose of this ad is to not only draw attention away from the whales
but to also showcase that Sea World offers “unique, up-close, one-of-a-kind animal
interactions”, according to Sea Worlds head of marketing Pete Frey.
Ethically Questionable PR?
In late March of 2015, Sea World practiced some ethically questionable PR tactics by
sending out a five-year-old damaging video of John Hargrove, former trainer and

reputable-on-screen source for in Blackfish to media outlets. In the video, Hargrove is
seen under the influence using racial slurs. A website was set up by an organization
called Awesome Ocean that is dedicated to challenging the claims Hargrove made.
According to Fast Company, Sea World PR confirmed that they provided startup money
to Awesome Ocean.
The End of an Era
In its most recent PR attempt to save its brand, Sea World implemented the two-way
symmetrical communication model, and used “negotiation and conflict resolution
strategies to effect change in ideas, attitudes, and behaviors of both the organization
and its publics for mutual benefit” (Center 19). Sea World recognized that society’s
perception about animals in captivity has shifted, and is trying to negotiate and resolve
the conflict by announcing that the “killer whales currently living at its facilities will be its
last as it will stop breeding them immediately and phase out theatrical orca shows”
(Bomey 2016). CEO Joel Manby released a statement saying “society’s attitudes
towards these very, very large, majestic animals under human care has shifted for a
variety of reasons, whether it’s a film, legislation, or peoples comments on the internet”
(Norman 2016). Manby followed by saying “it wasn’t worth fighting, and we needed to
move where society was moving” (Norman 2016). Sea World now plans to turn its
attention to “new, inspiring, natural orca encounters with educational programs
emphasizing enrichment, exercise, and health with its remaining killer whales” (Bomey
2016). This step proved that Sea World is practicing effective public relations by
“harmonizing the goals, policies, and procedures of an individual or organization with
the public interest” and also by “executing a program of action to earn public
understanding, acceptance, and supportive behavior” (Center 9).
Public Relations: What They Did Right
Sea Worlds PR was put into a tough situation, but they had some success by drawing
on some of the maxims that every PR staff needs to know.
1. Sea World gave the public a “source of information regarded as trustworthy,
expert, or authoritative” when it opened its Sea World cares website (Center 5).

2. Sea World delivered “explicitly stated messages”, calling out Blackfish for being
propaganda and completely misleading (Center 5).
3. Sea World delivered messages with a “degree of clarity, simplicity, and
symbolism” (Center 5). On its Sea World Cares website, Sea World delivers six
different simple truths about the company that counter any statements that were
made about it in the documentary.
Also, when forming its PR campaigns, Sea World focuses on some of the common
denominators that are evident in any successful PR campaign or program.
1. “Actions that are consistent with the mission, vision, policies, standards, and
personality of the organization represented” (Center 4). The mission of Sea
World emphasizes species management and conservation, as well as animal
welfare and care. On its website and campaign ads Sea World emphasized
animal conservation and welfare by giving interviews from trainers and
veterinarians who work with the animals. Also, on the parks website the
company’s actions that are consistent with the mission of the organization are
evident because the company has an entire section on its webpage dedicated to
showcasing the various conservation, wildlife rescue, and animal rehabilitation
programs it is involved in.
2. Sea World has also shown concern about social norms, group attitudes, and
individual behavior” (Center 4) with its recent announcement to stop breeding
orca whales and phase out its killer whale shows. This tactic has seemed to have
the most success for Sea World, and is the first bit of positive press it has
received in years. California State Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez stated in a
press release that it is “a step in the right direction” for the company (Spinelli
2015).
3. Sea World has put “emphasis on the use of communications and participative
activities to persuade, rather than use coercion” (Center 5). Instead of making
threats against animal’s rights groups, Sea World decided to start a truth
campaign which, according to Jill Kermes, “gives the public a place to go to get
facts about Sea World and its practices and let them make up their own minds.”

Public Reaction: What Proved Unsuccessful
Unfortunately for Sea World, a lot of its PR efforts have not shown huge success, and
audiences are still questioning Sea Worlds message that it is an animal-friendly
company. While the goal of the company, which was to “save the reputation of the
company by rebutting criticism raised by the film and the animal-rights activist promoting
it” (Green 2015), was properly identified, if you look at the measurable objectives the
goal has not yet been achieved. Such objectives are park revenue and attendance, both
of which are declining. According to an article on USA Today, Sea World attendance
dropped 2% and revenue has declined 3% within the last year.
Social Media Fail
One of the main PR efforts that proved unsuccessful was its #AskSeaWorld twitter
campaign. Many public relations experts call refer to the campaign as a failure for a
variety of reasons. What was meant to allow the company to “set the record straight on
false accusations made by activists who opposed whales and other animals in
zoological settings” sparked online war against Sea World (Lobosco 2015). Most of the
questions ended up coming from Sea World critics and animal activists, asking
questions like "Why do you LIE & tell guests collapsed dorsal fins are normal when only
1% suffer this in the wild?". This was posted by PETA and retweeted 487 times
(Lobosco 2015). The campaign just drew more attention to the accusations that were
being made against Sea World, and gave critics the opportunity to spread false
information about the company. Sea World did not answer the questions of the online
critics, instead addressing them as “trolls” and “bots” who were hijacking its Q&A.
Over all, it seems that even though Sea Worlds messages were clear, the goal was
appropriate, and it had the appropriate strategy, tactics, and objectives laid out, the
company still has not rebuilt its brand to what it once was. PETA is still attacking Sea
World in the media despite Sea Worlds efforts to depict itself as an “animal friendly
company”.

Why is this important?
Sea World is one of the largest amusement parks in the United States and attracts
people from all over the world to come and see its animals. This case is interesting
because Sea World is a very large corporation and its entire business was put in
jeopardy by two small filmmakers. Sea World was faced with a major crisis after the
documentary was released, its reputation had been tarnished with the public and park
sales decreased dramatically. From a PR perspective, it is important to look at how a
corporation bounces back from a crisis and how they can rebuild trust with the public. In
a crisis it is important that a company take certain steps to rebuild public and community
relations and this case offers others an insight on how important media relations,
consumer relations, and reputation management can be successful or unsuccessful for
a major corporation in the midst of a crisis.

Works Cited
Baran, Michelle. "Direct PR Approach the Correct One for SeaWorld: Crisis Experts: Travel
Weekly." Direct PR Approach the Correct One for SeaWorld: Crisis Experts: Travel
Weekly. 12 Apr. 2015. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.
Bomey, Nathan. "SeaWorld to Phase out Killer Whale Shows, Captivity." USA Today. Gannett,
17 Mar. 2016. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.
Boylan, Rob. "Dear Film Critic: SeaWorld vs. "Blackfish", a Documentary about Tilikum the
Whale and the Death of Trainer Dawn Brancheau." Orlando Weekly. 17 July 2013. Web.
28 Apr. 2016.
DeForest, Mike. "Shareholder Sues SeaWorld for Fraud." WKMG. 10 Sept. 2014. Web. 28 Apr.
2016.
Green, Catherine. "A Brief History of SeaWorld's 'Blackfish' Damage Control." Voice of San
Diego. 01 Apr. 2015. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.
Huddleston, Jr. Tom. "New SeaWorld Ads Take on 'lies' about Its Killer Whale Shows." Fortune
New SeaWorld Ads Take on Lies about Its Killer Whale Shows Comments. 23 Mar. 2015.
Web. 28 Apr. 2016.
McCoy, Terrence. "A World of Trouble for SeaWorld." Washington Post. The Washington Post,
12 Dec. 2014. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.
Norman, Greg. "Fresh off SeaWorld Victory, Animal Rights Groups Take Aim at Zoos, Circuses
and Maybe Your Pet | Fox News." Fox News. FOX News Network, 26 Apr. 2016. Web.
28 Apr. 2016.
Page, Arthur W. Sea World Parks & Entertainment 'Blackfish' Crisis.
Http://static.scs.georgetown.edu/upload/kb_file/seaworld-parks-entertainment-case-
study.pdf. 15 Jan. 2016. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.
Scott, J.M. "Photographs from Early Years of SeaWorld San Antonio." San Antonio Express-
News. 03 Apr. 2015. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.
Titlow, John Paul. "SeaWorld Is Spending $10 Million To Make You Forget About
"Blackfish"." Fast Company. 04 Aug. 2015. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.
"Welcome." Who We Are. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.

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