Snuffy the Seal Snatched and Killed by a Shark - Hoax Analysis

Story:

A news footage shows a rescued seal named Snuffy being grabbed and killed by a Shark when people were releasing it into the sea.

Other Versions

Poor Snuffy the Seal is mauled by a Great Shark.

Analysis:

The news footage shown to capture the re-release of a rescued Seal named Snuffy back into the sea later shows a Shark snatching and swallowing it to everyone’s shock. This Discovery Channel’s video that went viral is not real, it is a promotional campaign for their upcoming show called Shark Week.

This fake news commercial is the latest campaign of Discovery Channel, advertising their annual Shark Week program, which celebrates all things sharp and toothy, and is set to premiere on 4 August 2013. The description of the Discovery Channel’s YouTube video implies the same:

It’s a bad week to be a seal. For the rest of us it’s pretty awesome. | Shark Week premieres Sunday, August 4 (2013) at 9|8c on Discovery!

Shark Week was originally developed by Discovery Channel to raise awareness and respect for Sharks. This viral ad campaign of Discovery Channel reached out to people well, but got mixed response – for the way it was shown.

A similar promotional campaign of Animal Planet in the past showed a video proof that Mermaids exist.