smmrfld

Agree completely.

Michael El

Story here

SFO777

Yawn...
SeaWorld Profit up 30%

Nov 13/13
SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. on Wednesday said its third-quarter earnings rose 30% as the theme-park operator reported growth in revenue per visitor and positive attendance trends, while downplaying any potential impact of a film about the company's treatment of its killer whales.

SeaWorld, which has been criticized for its response so far to the controversy surrounding the film, still hasn't felt much impact from the film, Mr. Atchison said. "I scratch my head if there's any notable impact from this film at all, and I can't attribute one to it," the CEO said in an interview, adding: "Ironically, our attendance has improved since the movie came out." (Bold added by moi)

According to Mr. Atchison, October was the company's best-performing month this year, adjusted for seasonality, and November "is following similarly."

SFO777

And grossed all of $2.073 million in three months in at most 99 theatres.

nsx

We have some excellent punsters here!

Thanks for keeping it light.

Yup, the Blackfish film was definitely a black eye for SeaWorld. OTOH, elephant trainers die with some frequency as well, and we still have zoos and circuses. Exhibits of captive animals are supposed to strike a balance that treats the animals as well as reasonably possible while building public support for protection of their species in the wild. The captive animals are to some extent sacrificed for the benefit of their species.

oswaldjacoby

The impact of Blackfish does not stem from its theater run. It stems from its huge number of airings on CNN. It was one of the most widely watched CNN programs ever.

It would be useful to keep in mind 2 distinct questions that are being discussed in this thread. First, many are discussing whether the concern over animal welfare at Sea World is justified and whether they agree with the premise of Blackfish. The second issue is whether associating with Sea World is a good or bad business decision for SWA. While I found Blackfish convincing--I do respect that some on this forum disagree.

But I have a hard time seeing how the Sea World relationship remains a good thing for SWA. Sea World is now viewed negatively by many people--the net effect on the SWA image can not be good.

SFO777

WN pax are motivated by price, convenience and "bags fly free". If WN has the lowest price, I can count on one hand the number of pax that will not fly them because Shamu is painted on the fuselage of a few 737s.

smmrfld

For someone who apparently doesn't fly WN much, you sure seem to know a lot about the mindset and behavior of WN pax.

Wingrider

You choose to spar with me on a topic where I clearly stated I had no skin in the game. That said, I'll humor your reply with a little more.

You scoffed at the film doing a little over $2M "...in at most 99 theaters". Well for comparison this past weekend Hobbit 2 did a tad over $28M for the weekend. With a holiday 5 day number of over $49M and a per screen average of about $12,550 on 3928 screens.

The belitteded 99 screens for Blackfish you called out (based on your figures) pulled in over $20k per screen-assuming 1 screen per theater.

I only engaged because your comment based on older 2012 figures that didn't reflect the film coming out after those figures.

Hey if you're pro SeaWord and want to do some astroturfing makes no diff to me.

rsteinmetz70112

Actually the article linked above citing 30% increase in profits and 3% rise in attendance year over year is from November 2013 and cites 3Q 2013 YTD results over 3Q 2012, 9 months after the film was released.

Astroturfing - An artificially-manufactured political movement designed to give the appearance of grass roots activism.

poser

Its on Netflix if anyone wants to see it.

FCfree

I would suggest they dust off one of Herb's old letters and send it to Ms. Beck. Remember when this happened:

"Southwest prides itself on answering every letter that comes to the company and several employees tried to respond to this customer, patiently explaining why we do things the way we do them. [Our response] was quickly becoming a [large] volume until they bumped it up to Herb's desk, with a note: 'This one's yours.' In sixty seconds, Kelleher wrote back and said, 'Dear Mrs. Crabapple, We will miss you. Love, Herb.'"

Wingrider

I only commented about the 2012 stats.

From the Urban dictionary-
http://www.urbandictionary.com/defin...term=astroturf

"Creating the impression of public support by paying people in the public to pretend to be supportive.

The false support can take the form of letters to the editor, postings on message boards in response to criticism, and writing to politicians in support of the cause. "

Bold above added by me. Seems to be enough of a fit in this case.

rsteinmetz70112

Seems to fit your posts just as well.

Andrea Waters

Where do you live that most of the public has heard of Sea World? Almost everyone in the United States has heard of Sea World, especially if they have or had little ones in the home at one time.

Your attempt to defend (?) Sea World is deeply flawed. Blackfish was released in 2013, and I'm nearly 100% certain that their attendance has nosedived and will continue to do so.

If anyone is at all interested in watching Blackfish, it's currently available on Netflix instant and is aired on CNN frequently. It heartbreaking to watch but worth your time.