ORLANDO, Fla. — SeaWorld placed full-page ads in eight U.S. newspapers Friday, including the Orlando Sentinel, in response to recent criticism of its treatment of killer whales. SeaWorld also published the ad on its website.
SeaWorld said its message comes from 1,500 employees, which includes scientists, veterinarians and conservationists. The company said the ad corrects "inaccurate reports."
The ad defends the way SeaWorld cares for the 29 whales it has in captivity.
The ad doesn't specifically mention the "Blackfish" documentary, which chronicles the captivity of the killer whale that killed trainer Dawn Brancheau in 2010.
However, it does say SeaWorld wants to "set the record straight," after a number of well-known performers backed out of concerts at the Orlando park, most citing the "Blackfish" controversy.
After the "Blackfish" documentary was released, people swarmed social media to lash out against SeaWorld because of accusations it mistreats animals.
"This was really big. It just kept spreading, and more and more as acts cancelled, more attention comes to it, so it's like death by a thousand paper cuts almost," said UCF professor Timothy Coombs.
Coombs is a crisis communications expert. He said SeaWorld should have paid for the full-page ad before "Blackfish" came out, so the theme park's fans could use the information to combat the allegations.
"If that was done, maybe even the day before Blackfish comes out, their statement is there so when the questions come up, it's easy to refer back to their public statement," he said.
In the ad, SeaWorld wrote, "The men and women of SeaWorld are true animal advocates who have dedicated our lives to the animals in our care as well as those in the wild."