Lily Tomlin Reprises ‘Ernestine’ Role for PETA’s New Ad Blasting SeaWorld
Ernestine is back!
Lily Tomlin has reprised her classic, feisty phone operator from Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ new ad taking on SeaWorld.
People has the exclusive first look at the new PETA spot, which will start running in May, when SeaWorld’s tourist season begins. In the clip, scripted by Modern Family writer Alex Herschlag, Ernestine has swapped her phone bank for a more modern headset, but she still remains as gratingly pleasant as ever while fielding complaint calls at SeaWorld HQ.
The phone operator answers concerns about small tanks and whale mistreatment with cheerfully ignorant responses from a business perspective:
“Yes, the orcas lose teeth gnawing on the concrete walls,” says Ernestine in the spot. “But if you were a trainer, wouldn’t you prefer to swim with a toothless killer whale?”
While public pressure has led SeaWorld to end its captive breeding programs, PETA hopes more awareness and fighting lead the company to release the whales into sea sanctuaries.
Tomlin, who was a double nominee at this year’s Golden Globes, returns for the second season of Netflix’s Grace and Frankie on May 6.
