Pity the Roaches: Six Flags Dare Bugs PETA
Six Flags is moving ahead with its Halloween-themed cockroach-eating promotion, saying the stunt is intended as good fun, despite a call from an international animal activist group to cancel it.
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) this week sent a letter to Six Flags theme parks asking the company to change the promotion to something more humane or to stop it. The promotion, called A Cockroach is Your Ticket to the Front of the Line, offers visitors unlimited line-jumping privileges to the scariest rides at the park to anyone who eats a live Madagascar hissing cockroach.
On its Web site, PETA posted an announcement about the Six Flags promotion, asking consumer to contact Six Flags CEO Mark Shapiro and nearby parks to replace the stunt or cancel it altogether.
“As a corporation that owns animal theme parks, including at least one that’s accredited by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, Six Flags has no business encouraging the inhumane treatment of any animal,” PETA wrote in a statement. “Six Flags is meant to be a place for family fun, not a place to teach children insensitivity to animals.”
Yet, Six Flags said it’s doing nothing wrong. The company modeled the promotion after one its Seattle-based Wild Ways and Enchanted Village park offered last year, Six Flags spokesperson Debbie Evans said.
“We appreciate [PETA’s] comments, but we don’t have any plans to alter our promotion,” Evans said. “Cockroaches are insects. They are considered a delicacy in many parts of the world. They are a great source of protein.”
The roach-eating contest starts this weekend and is tied to Six Flags’ Halloween-themed Fright Festival. It’s the first time Six Flags has offered such a stunt, which targets teens and adults, to hype up the annual festival. The promotion will vary at each park, Evans said. Some Six Flags parks, including New Jersey, will offer the promotion each weekend through Halloween. Other parks will offer the one-time stunt this weekend only.
In a scene consumers might expect on NBC’s Fear Factor, park employees dressed as ghostly chiefs and waitresses will roam attraction lines with a platter full of hissing cockroaches to see which consumers are willing to take the dare. Visitors who accept and eat the cockroach will move to the front of the line with three friends in some markets and also win T-shirts and other prizes.
PETA said Six Flags chose the insect to be sacrificed because of the species “extremely negative image.” The organization argues that the promotion is cruel to cockroaches. “Regardless of how people feel about them…they suffer when hurt,” PETA said.
“It’s going to be fun,” Evans countered. “It’s going to create a little excitement.”
Plus, fearless roach-eaters will be able to skip an estimated 45- to 60-minute wait at the park’s top attractions.
In a separate development, Six Flags is launching a new sweepstakes dangling a chance for consumers to win an exclusive party for 100 friends at each of its parks.
Six Flags guests who purchase and activate a 2007 season pass will be entered in the Dream Nite sweepstakes for a chance to have a night at the park for themselves. Passes can be purchased from Six Flag’s Web site or at any participating Six Flags theme park.
Six winners from 16 participating Six Flags theme parks in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico will win a night at a Six Flags park and the chance to invite up to 100 friends and family members. Winners will be selected in July 2007. Dream Nite parties will take place in September 2007.
The sweepstakes runs through May 28, 2007. Online materials and signage support. Six Flags handles in-house.
