In a vulgar display of publicity, a Chinese theme park at Chongqing made a pig bungee jump off a 68-meter-high tower. The stunt was staged to mark the opening of the park's new bungee section. The pig, after its stunt, was sent to a slaughterhouse. After generating much outrage, the park apologized for its marketing tactic and vowed to improve its marketing and services, in the future.
Vulgar publicity stunt
The incident, called as the golden pig bungee jump by the organizers, took place on January 18 at the Meixin Red Wine Town theme park in Chongqing, south-western China. It was to mark the opening of the park's bungee section. "We let the pig make the first jump because pork prices have been very high this year and recently they dropped a bit," the park said.
In the footage, the pig can be seen tied to a pole, being carried by two men, before being pushed off the tower, with a purple cape wrapped around its shoulder. In the video, the pig's loud squeals can be heard. The pig's squeals are matched by the audience's cheers, screams, and laughter.
Another part of the video shows the semi-conscious pig being dragged away by the staff. According to local reports, after the show, the pig was sent to a slaughterhouse, BBC reported.
Animal cruelty draws ire
Scores of people condemned the incident on social media. "This is a super vulgar marketing tactic", said a user. "Killing animals for consumption and treating them cruelly for entertainment are two different things," another said. "There is no need to torture them like this".
"If I'm too scared to bungee jump I'm able to say something, but the pig can't," wrote one user. "It was miserable for the animal," said another. "To tie up its boss and throw him down would be much more entertaining", a user rightly said.
Even the Chinese state media news portal Global Times took to social media and wrote, "the pig is OK" the "people [behind the stunt] are not".
But there were some commentators who defended the incident with the argument that using a pig for entertainment is no different from using it for consumption. A user said that the stunt was "just a bit of entertainment," and that the animal was going to be slaughtered for a Lunar New Year banquet anyway.
The theme park has apologized for the incident. "We sincerely accept netizens' criticism and advice and apologize to the public," it said. "We will improve [our] marketing of the tourist site, to provide tourists with better services". As a matter of fact, there is no law for punishment on account of animal cruelty in China.
