Discovery network’s morning-after claim that promotions for its "Shark Week" race between Michael Phelps and a great white didn’t mislead viewers has sailed into a storm of social media backlash, already know those who watch "Entertainment Tonight."
Discovery told ET on Monday it was upfront that the Olympic gold medal swimmer would not be side-by-side with a real-live shark while racing. Instead, Sunday's program used a computer-generated shark to swim next to Phelps, using data on the speed of a great white.
"All the promotion, interviews and the program itself made clear that the challenge wasn't a side-by-side race," Discovery told ET. "In 'Phelps vs. Shark,' we enlisted world-class scientists to take up the challenge of making the world's greatest swimmer competitive with a great white. The show took smart science and technology to make the challenge more accessible and fun."
Huffington Post’s Dominique Mosbergen said, though, he believed some of Discovery's promotional material was purposefully vague, pointing to one statement about the show released June 15.
"But (Phelps) has one competition left to win. An event so monumental no one has ever attempted it before. The world's most decorated athlete takes on the ocean's most efficient predator: 'Phelps V. Shark' – the race is on," said the Discovery promotion.
Many still complained on social media, for example:
Some, though, said they recognized that Phelps swimming side-by-side with a shark was not feasible from the start.
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