sea world commercials

[wesw]

don t quite know where this would fit into the topic index so I put it here. advertising is an art, a dark art, but an art nonetheless. politics and science and nature seemed likely candidates too, but not quite right, so here it goes


does anyone but me find the new sea world commercials, about their happy, healthy whales , insulting and disgusting?

make no mistake, these adds were targeted toward middle class white mommies and daddies.

I have more to say, but I m curious as to y'all s view of them.

[BoSoxGal]

Have you seen Blackfish?

[MajGenl.Meade]

wesw - no

[wesw]

no, I haven t seen blackfish. I have long been opposed to killer whale captivity. I won t even go to circuses anymore, seeing the mighty elephants humbled bothers me.

don t care for zoos either. seeing jaguars caged at our local zoo bothers me. the lynx paces with insanity, the buffalo do not roam. the fierce eagles are caged and clipped and it pierces my very soul.

[Lord Jim]

wesw - no

ditto.

[Joe Guy]

Is this the commercial you're talking about? ---



I hadn't seen any Seaworld commercials until now, but the one above looks like an attempt to assure people that whatever bad has been said about them isn't true. There aren't any Seaworlds around here that I know of. Should I not like them?

[oldr_n_wsr]

We have a small petting zoo near me and the eagles and birds of prey are "crippled" and would not survive in the wild. Maybe the same is true for other zoo's.

[wesw]

yeah that s the commercial, thanks.

well joe, I don t care for them, Disney either.

yeah, those folks in the commercial are so earnest, so attractive so apple pie and icecream..., so full of crap.

yeah "you love them" and they love you too, for dinner, after they snatch you by the ponytail and show you to the crowd.

sure they are happy and healthy and live long lives...., until the captivity eventually drives them insane and you have to kill them.

rant complete, carry on....

[Big RR]

wes--is there any data on how often that happens to whales? I have no doubt some ordinarily wild animals do better/worse in captivity than others, but I haven't seen much about whales.

[wesw]

i believe there are studies and data that show captive whales are mentally unhealthy. similar to a big cat in a small cage, pacing, pacing...

...or a parrot plucking its feathers. i can t remember where or what i ve read or seen exactly, but i ve paid attention for many years to many sources, before the seaworld incident.

[Daisy]

Orcas are intelligent, social animals that live in multi-generation family groups. Taking them out of that to perform tricks for fish is cruel and inhuman.

I wouldn't visit any park that keeps them, it makes me more than uncomfortable, it makes me angry.

[Guinevere]

What Daisy said. I've never been to Sea World, and I never intend to go. I'll take the sea life in its natural state, right out my back door, thanks.

I have a slightly different take on zoos, having worked in the Baltimore Zoo hospital. Much of the work that goes on there is conservation-based, including genetic testing and breeding, in order to maintain the species and diversity. And thankfully, most reputable zoos have at least tried to provide something akin to a "natural" habitat for their captives. Its still uncomfortable though, and I have mixed feelings when I visit one.

[wesw]

hip hip hooray for guin and daisy!!!!

[wesw]

I also have mixed feelings about zoos. good memories, but uncomfortable for me too. in my sons toddler years we used to go to the local zoo a lot. it was often closed by the time I got off work, but we could walk around the outer fence and hand feed the deer and alpacas with leaves just out of their reach, but obviously plants that they had already eaten all that they could reach. the llamas and ostriches weren't as friendly...

anyway, acouple of dogs got loose from a junkyard and killed some deer, then a guy climbed the fence and had sex with the deer in ways that seem perverted even to deer fuckers, so they put up a double fence and and the days of pleasant deer feeding ended.

when I was 6 or 7 seven there was a big campaign to Save Sarah, the jaguar at our zoo. she was in a tiny cage and just paced endlessly. I remember going to the zoo with my parents before the campaign and my dad being really bothered by her condition and obvious misery. I earned my Save Sarah button somehow and she got a bigger cage. I think they have jaguars still in a large cage with rocks and running water. I saw them have sex once when I was older, there was no cuddling after....

[wesw]

hey bigsky, just saw some of Blackfish . it s on CNN now. I had to turn it off. made me want to throw up.