Cape Town Fish Market puts up unfortunate dolphin, sushi FB post

It’s no secret that the Cape Town Fish Market — a South African-based chain of seafood restaurants — hasn’t been having the greatest time with its advertising and marketing efforts of late.

First there was the uproar caused by its “fresh” campaign — which featured the white lead character donning blackface — followed by its “apology“, which appeared to miss the point a little.

Now its Facebook team has put up a post with some unfortunate connotations. Check it out:

If you’re unsure why that post might be problematic, then you might be surprised to learn that dolphins are a common by-catch in tuna fisheries, especially in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean, as they commonly swim with schools of yellowfin tuna.

That would be the same tuna prized by sushi connoisseurs around the world. In fact, the issue led to the introduction of “dolphin safe” labels for tuna.

Now, we’re not saying that this has to be a disaster for the restaurant chain. After all, its Facebook page has just over 1 500 likes.

Indeed Cape Town Fish Market could follow up the post with one informing people about how it sources its fish as well as providing links to resources that allow people to make informed choices about sustainably caught fish.