The "Blackfish Effect" Part 4: Extensive Media Attention

The third component of the Blackfish Effect is the maximization of the news and social media. As the old saying goes, “any publicity is good publicity,” and this was evident around the release of the revealing documentary. Even before it was presented to the public, SeaWorld was denouncing the film as inaccurate and misleading. The theme park launched a ferocious PR campaign in a desperate attempt to mitigate the immediate downpour of criticism that commenced post-film. And as the attitude-war raged, more and more news articles poured into the public sphere, continually expanding awareness of the issue. Because of such in-depth reporting, people who had previously held no interest in the matter became interested and then infuriated by SeaWorld’s actions. Our take: a successful activist movement greatly benefits from  exhaustive and in-depth media coverage; and the more controversy created, the more powerful position the activists possess.