Pop stars Hanson have been urged to cancel their weekend concert at SeaWorld in Florida or face protests from animal rights activists.
The MMMBop hitmakers have been booked to hit the stage at the Seven Seas Food Festival at the Orlando theme park on Sunday (11Mar18), but some fans are not happy with the gig, and have called on others to join them in a People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) demonstration outside the venue, where they claim sea animals are poorly treated.
PETA officials reveal the brotherly trio has so far ignored devotees' efforts, including an online petition and a fundraiser, to have them pull the plug on the show, but they hope Taylor, Zac, and Isaac Hanson will see the error of their ways in the final hours before the concert and cancel their set.
"Hanson's loyal fans who care about animals would follow Isaac, Taylor, and Zac just about anywhere - except SeaWorld, where orcas are kept inside tiny concrete tanks and denied everything that's natural and important to them," says Rachelle Owen, PETA's Associate Director of Youth Campaigns and a self-confessed Hanson super-fan, who tried to get in touch with the band.
"We're asking Hanson to cancel this show and join PETA in calling for SeaWorld to release these animals into sea sanctuaries, where they'd finally have a taste of freedom."
The musicians have yet to respond to the latest PETA call, but if they fail to axe the performance, they face being publicly challenged by protestors at Sunday's event, where activists plan to hold up signs reading, "Shout It Out: SeaWorld Kills".
It's not the first time SeaWorld performers have come under fire from PETA campaigners - in 2014, they successfully convinced Willie Nelson, Cheap Trick, and Heart, among others, to axe their sets at the park's Bands, Brews & BBQs shows in the wake of the hard-hitting Blackfish documentary, which exposed the questionable behind-the-scenes treatment of captured killer whales housed at the location.
