SeaWorld Float in Macy's Thanksgiving Parade gets criticized

[Beringia]

Singer Joan Jett, I Love Rock and Roll





(Newser) – What with the considerable hoopla surrounding Blackfish, the recent documentary about the SeaWorld whale that killed a trainer in 2010, perhaps this was not the best year for SeaWorld to decide to have its first-ever float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Animal activists including PETA are protesting the float's inclusion, BuzzFeed reports. The Float, called "Sea of Surprises," commemorates the park's 50th anniversary, and a PETA rep notes, "It shows orcas swimming in a majestic sea alongside their families, and this couldn’t be further from the truth. SeaWorld deprives them of all these things. They confine them to concrete tanks and take them away from their families. The picture that this float presents is absurdly false."

More than 78,000 people had emailed Macy's as of Friday asking that the float be eliminated from the parade, the New York Times reports. (You can do so here.) One high-profile opponent of the float: Alec Baldwin, who calls SeaWorld "a cruel prison for whales." But it doesn't look like Macy's is budging; a spokesperson says the parade is "solely devoted to entertainment," and is not interested in getting involved in any "social commentary, political debate, or other forms of advocacy." And then there are the ranchers upset about PETA spokesperson Joan Jett being featured on the South Dakota tourism float; they actually did manage to get her switched to a different float, the AP reports. In happier news, CBS notes four other new floats were unveiled yesterday, featuring Cirque du Soleil, the minions from Despicable Me, Royal Caribbean, and Lindt Chocolate ... which will have the Goo Goo Dolls aboard


http://www.newser.com/story/177883/macys-parade-woe-uproar-over-seaworld-float.html

[snooper2]

1. PETA PETA PETA!

who is that lady?

[Orrex]

3. I don't know, but I'll bet that she loves rock 'n roll.

[rudolph the red]

4. And she hates herself for loving you :)

[ScreamingMeemie]

7. But, she'll give you something to live for...

[ChisolmTrailDem]

11. Crimson and clover? n/t

[lumberjack_jeff]

15. Whatever. She doesn't give a damn about her bad reputation. n/t

[zappaman]

2. Fuck Sea World.

And fuck Ron Paul!

[Orrex]

5. Unrealistic?!?

Next they'll tell me that Mike from Monsters Inc. isn't a real monster! Outrageous!

[Auggie]

6. The Macy's Parade is nothing but a promotional tool any company with enough $ can buy into

[HappyMe]

8. Oh ffs!

[Wait Wut]

10. +1

[Aaron8418]

9. My thoughts

Let's get real here folks, are you for real?! They do not go a catch whales out of the wild to display, they are injured whales that they take in for treatment so they don't DIE! Alec Baldwin can suck it, he has no idea what he's talking about. Of course somebody got killed it's a 12,000lb Carnivore what did you expect to happen eventually, it's because people enjoy helping these animals and making the world a better place because of it, that they still do it an strive to fix a mistake if there was one which i am sure there was. I am very happy to know about Sea Wolds entry and their float is gorgeous and exquzitly represents who they are and what they are about.

[Beringia]

12. Many of the whales they have

were caught in the wild and SeaWorld would still be doing it if citizens did not make an outcry and banned SeaWorld from taking any more.

And the whales are treated like objects, kept in small cement pools, where they cannot echolocate. Killer Whales are social animals and stay with their mother and pod for their whole lives.

Have you watched Frontline Documentary, Whale of a Business or Blackfish or Keiko, the Untold Story?

[ScreamingMeemie]

13. The 12,000 lb carnivore you referenced? Well, he was taken from the wild...

from his mother, uninjured, at the age of 2.

They are not "helping" these animals. They captured these animals from their pods in the wild and now breed them--not to save the species, but to entertain people like you. And that is very sad...

Warning: this clip is heartbreaking

[Marrah_G]

14. Liar