Sea World's business strategy

Quote: TheCesspit

Seaworld makes various claims about how many Orcas they have saved and how important their research is. Most Marine Biologist think their numbers are hookum and balderdash.

Sea World has helped give the perception that Dolphins are "friendly" (they are not) and lovable. They almost alone have given attention to killer whales. They actually get the public interested in marine biology. Marine Biologists can call hookum and balderdash all they like. While it would be impossible to quantify it exactly, Sea World has overall been a huge plus for the field of marine biology.

I am currently housed in a human zoo, as surely as Barnum keeps animals in cages.

These people do all manner of tricks, many are not entertaining. They drive like jaguars in the jungle, feeding on the sick and the lame.

There is also always some kind of migration going on and a type of permanent "rut", with the human animals wanting to procreate, regardless of who will raise the offspring.

On a happy note, I think I saw the first hookers I have seen in a while last night? Pretty, but they seemed predatory and dangerous. I would have felt safer had they been caged or in a professional setting like the "Chicken Ranch".

It's people that assign human attributes to animals that don't really exist. I was just reading a Nat Geo about a lady that was absolutely shocked when her pet monkey bit her after the sandwich she was feeding it ran out.

The scorpion and the frog.

Quote: AZDuffman

Sea World has helped give the perception that Dolphins are "friendly" (they are not) and lovable. They almost alone have given attention to killer whales. They actually get the public interested in marine biology. Marine Biologists can call hookum and balderdash all they like. While it would be impossible to quantify it exactly, Sea World has overall been a huge plus for the field of marine biology.

Well, this proves that they've done the best job at self promotion at least.

Quote: reno

My personal opinion is that society's views on keeping large intelligent animals in captivity for entertainment has shifted and this change is permanent. Just as views on race relations finally forced Mormons to allow blacks to enter their churches in 1978, the change is permanent and is a reflection of society's evolving values.

Are you thinking of killer whales exclusively, or do you include all mammals from white bears, to dolphins, to otters, and sea lions?

Certainly the large land predatory land mammals are just as intelligent as the predatory marine mammals. Do you think Sea World is different than a casino in Las Vegas that houses lions or tigers?

BTW, I think ascribing intelligence to the large baleen whales that graze on krill is pure fantasy. It's a powerful fantasy, and was the subject of many books I read growing up, but it is still a fantasy.

Turns out that Sea World sent one of their employees to go undercover and infiltrate PETA for 5 years. Setting aside the ethical (and legal) issue of paying your employee to engage in fraud, there's a pragmatic business issue at stake: how was this supposed to stay secret? Surely they had to know that eventually this dumb secret would eventually get out, and therefore backfire with more even bad coverage in the media. Was the goal to make Sea World look sneaky and dishonest? If I were PETA, I'd sue for fraud. Even if the lawsuit lost, it would lead to even more newspaper coverage, which is ultimately PETA's real goal.

(Reminds me of the time Peppermill Reno got busted for sending an employee to tamper with competitors' slot machines. Gee, what could possibly go wrong?)

PETA used photos on Facebook to connect the dots, particuarly McComb’s wife’s Facebook page. C'mon guys, cover your tracks! Don’t use Facebook, don’t let your wife use Facebook, don’t let anyone in your family use Facebook. Duh.

These Sea World guys are such amateurs. Pathetic.

Quote: reno

Turns out that Sea World sent one of their employees to go undercover and infiltrate PETA for 5 years. Setting aside the ethical (and legal) issue of paying your employee to engage in fraud, there's a pragmatic business issue at stake: how was this supposed to stay secret? Surely they had to know that eventually this dumb secret would eventually get out, and therefore backfire with more even bad coverage in the media. Was the goal to make Sea World look sneaky and dishonest? If I were PETA, I'd sue for fraud. Even if the lawsuit lost, it would lead to even more newspaper coverage, which is ultimately PETA's real goal.


These Sea World guys are such amateurs. Pathetic.

Good for Sea World, PETA is one of the biggest collection of nut jobs out there. Not sure what PETA could sue for. I see no grounds.

Quote: AZDuffman

Good for Sea World, PETA is one of the biggest collection of nut jobs out there.

When the company pays an employee to lie on its behalf, it makes the company look dishonest and untrustworthy. Park attendance is down sharply due to the perception that the whales are unhappy. Sea World needs to convince the public that the whales are happy. They need the public to trust them. They need an image of honesty & integrity.

Anything they perhaps gained by spying on PETA has now been undermined. This undercover shenanigan hurts their credibility.

PETA is a low level terrorist organization. If I was Sea World (or a fur farm, or a deer farm... or any farm) I'd want my finger on the pulse at all times.

So... what's the problem?

Also, since PETA was mentioned I cannot end without saying - F#$% PETA. Just another productive idea ruined by extremist whack jobs.

I don't see any problem with any business infiltrating any NGO, non-profit or activist organization. The latter do infiltrate the former on occasion.

When this happens we call it whistle-blowing, not fraud. Turnabout is fair play.

Quote: Face

So... what's the problem?

PETA thrives on publicity. They crave attention. They want to be in the limelight.

Sending in an undercover employee to infiltrate them gives the news media an angle, a story. Sea World is playing right into PETA's hands, and nothing about this benefits Sea World.