SeaWorld Continues to Blame Losses on Weather and 'Timing of Easter'

By Ellie Shechet  |  August 7, 2015 | 6:30pm
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SeaWorld released its most recent quarterly report on Thursday, and it’s pretty funny, as quarterly reports go!

The company’s continued losses in attendance, sales, and a net income drop of 84 percent are really NBD, SeaWorld reassures investors, blaming the spiral on a set of unavoidable factors like the weather, religion, and, oh, “continued brand challenges.” From the report overview:

“Reported an attendance decline in the second quarter due to the timing of Easter, record levels of rainfall in Texas and continued brand challenges in California, partially offset by improvements in demand at the Company’s other park locations, including Florida.”

But according to an annual report released in March 2014, Jesus has been doing a number on this company for a while: “…contributing to the decline in full year attendance was unexpected adverse weather conditions in the Company’s second quarter and July as well as the impact of an early Easter in 2013.”

Meanwhile, SeaWorld CEO Joe Manby, who joined the company four months ago, said in yesterday’s report that future efforts will focus on correcting “misinformation”:

“We realize we have much work ahead of us to recover more of our attendance base, increase revenue and improve our performance as returning to historical performance levels will take time and investment … On the reputation side, early feedback on our campaign has been positive, however, we recognize that fully resolving our brand challenges in California will require sustained focus and commitment to correct misinformation.”

SeaWorld’s recent $10 million branding campaign to save its Blackfish’d reputation includes commercials, print advertorials and a dedicated website called SeaWorld Cares; most of the campaign, FastCompany points out, “focuses on its veterinary staff, animals rescued from harrowing circumstances, and non-whale species,” pivoting public attention away from the torturous conditions of large marine mammal captivity.

“We will continue to fight with the facts, because the facts are on our side,” Manby said in a press conference.

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Image via Associated Press.

 
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