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NAMI E-News October 30, 2002 Vol. 02-106
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Halloween Stigma Re-Appears
Unfortunately, it's the time of year when Halloween haunted houses and
costumes often adopt mental illnesses as a theme-portraying people with mental
illnesses as monsters, ghouls, or whatever else may go bump in the night.
"It is a recurring problem that has to stop," said Rick Birkel, executive
director of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), which earlier
this month launched a "Campaign for the Mind of America" to eliminate stigma
and seek broad reforms in the nation's mental health system.
NAMI released a list of some of the nation's worst "Halloween Horrors"
produced or sponsored by companies that have ignored appeals by both President
Bush and the U.S. Surgeon General to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental
illness for the public good. The list includes:
 | Disguise, Inc. which produces a "Straight Jacket" costume previously
marketed as "Mental Patient." See
www.disguise.com.
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| Spencer Gifts, a key distributor of the costume, along with another
labeled "Psycho Rodeo Clown." See
www.spencergift.com.
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| Six Flags Amusement Park in Dallas, Texas, host of a "Fright Fest"
featuring Dr. Malice, initially promoted as an insane asylum escapee, whose
demented experiments include "Electro-Shock Trivia." (In response to initial
complaints, the park tried to tone down the references to mental illness and
gave free tickets to NAMI Dallas for distribution to consumers). See
www.sixflags.com/parks/overtexas/home.asp
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| The Netherworld Haunted House "Inner Sanctum" in Atlanta "dedicated to
aggressively treating the most severe forms of mental illness," which included
Pepsi and Subway among its "friends and sponsors." Following an initial
complaint by NAMI, Pepsi pulled its logo from the Netherworld Website on
October 25. See
www.fearworld.com/is.htm. |
"Perhaps Pepsi intended only to pull a Halloween prank on the Atlanta
community, which is home to its archrival, Coca-Cola," Birkel said.
But the incident raises deeper questions about corporate attitudes. They flow
from the corporate boardroom and executive suites right on down to every
bottling plant and local distributor. Production, sponsorship, advertising, or
sale of merchandise or images of this kind may create legal liability under
the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-as part of a hostile work
environment or pattern of insensitivity that affects employees or customers.
Every company on our list is now on notice to take a close, careful look at
its corporate culture and policies."
"Subway, Inc., for example, may want to revise its advertising campaigns to
show not only that Jared and his friends have lost weight by eating their
sandwiches," Birkel said, "but also that the company and its franchises are
committed to helping eliminating stigma."
"Stigma is based on ignorance, prejudice or unfair discrimination. Halloween
costumes portraying hospital patients in straitjackets, or haunted houses
presented as insane asylums, are no different than the blackface minstrel
shows in an earlier era, when African Americans were cruelly caricatured,
segregated and marginalized in our society."
"It is not simply a matter of Halloween fun. For many, it's a matter of life
and death," Birkel noted.
One out of every five Americans experiences a mental illness during the
course of a lifetime. With treatment, people with mental illness are no more
prone to violence (the theme of Halloween costumes and haunted houses) than
the general population. Every year, however, approximately 30,000 people
commit suicide, almost always as a result of mental illness. Suicide also is
the third leading cause of death among teenagers and young adults.
"These Halloween images are more than offensive and insensitive," Birkel said.
"They help create a cultural environment in which people with mental illnesses
are dehumanized and discouraged or prevented from getting help when they need
it. It reflects a moral issue with tremendous economic and social cost."
NAMI quoted President Bush and the Surgeon General in support of its campaign.
| On April 29, 2002 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, President Bush declared:
"Our country must make a commitment: Americans with mental illness deserve our
understanding and they deserve excellent care…To meet this goal, we've got to
overcome obstacles…The first obstacle is the stigma that often surrounds
mental illness-a stigma caused by a history of misunderstanding, fear, and
embarrassment. Stigma leads to isolation and discourages people from seeking
the treatment they need." |
| The U.S. Surgeon General's Report on Mental Health similarly declared in
1999 that stigma is "the most formidable obstacle to future progress in the
arena of mental illness and mental health ... manifested by bias, distrust,
stereotyping, fear, embarrassment and/or avoidance." Stigma leads people "to
avoid living, or working with, renting to, or employing people with mental
disorders, especially severe disorders such as schizophrenia ... It reduces
patients' access to resources and opportunities (e.g., housing, jobs) and
leads to low self-esteem, isolation, and hopelessness. It deters the public
from seeking, and wanting to pay for, care. In its most overt and egregious
form, stigma results in outright discrimination and abuse. More tragically, it
deprives people of their dignity and interferes with their full participation
in society." |
NAMI's "Halloween Horrors" List with Website addresses and contacts is
attached.
NAMI'S WORST IN THE NATION LIST OF HALLOWEEN HORRORS
Disguise Inc.
One of the world's largest costume makers, Disguise, Inc. has changed last
year's "Mental Patient" costume to "Straight Jacket." Otherwise, it's the same
costume, and they have been insensitive to the connection that still exists to
mental illness and the human suffering that the image of a straitjacket
represents. One spokesperson has claimed that NAMI is trying to "censor" its
product, but that's not the case. Instead, we're exercising our own freedom of
speech; condemning the company's gross insensitivity and lack of social
responsibility---and trying to appeal to individual and corporate consciences.
Mr. Benoit Pousset, President
Disguise, Inc.
11906 Tech Center Ct.
Poway, CA 92064
Phone: (858) 391-3600
FAX: (858) 39l-3601
Web-site: www.disguise.com
Spencer Gifts, Inc.
Spencer Gifts is a large retail outlet for Disguise costumes as well as
t-shirts or gadgets with discriminatory messages. It has characterized the
"Straight Jacket" as a "teen" costume and features a "Psycho Rodeo Clown" in
its Website sales catalogue. A company representative responded to initial
NAMI concerns with the following statement:
Naturally not all our products are for everyone. We are a company that has
through merchandise illustrated who and what we are as a society for 50 years.
At times, I agree, it can hit a nerve with some people. Our merchandise often
causes disagreement among people with different tastes and views, but that is
natural, healthy, not a bad thing and is a key part of why our customers enjoy
our stores. What we don't do with our merchandise is attempt to impose any
particular view or agenda. Spencer Gifts is a store about fun. What we do, and
will continue to do, is poke fun at life situations whenever and wherever we
find them. Please don't read anything more than that into what you see in our
stores.
NAMI considers Spencer Gifts' response to be unacceptable. We pose the
question for reporters and editorial writers whether the company would respond
the same way about racial and ethnic slurs? Or to appeals from President Bush,
the U.S. Surgeon General, and the families of 30,000 suicide victims per year?
Mr. John B. Ridgeway
Divisional Vice President, Marketing
Spencer Gifts
6826 Black Horse Pike
Egg Harbor Twp., NJ 08234-4197
www.spencergift.com
Six Flags Over Texas (Dallas)
One of many Six Flags theme parks around the country, the Dallas park features
a "Fright Fest" hosted by "Dr. Malice," who in flyers circulated in early
October in the Dallas Morning News was described as an insane asylum escapee.
In response to complaints by NAMI Dallas, the park tried tone down references
to mental illness-and provided free tickets for distribution to consumers. The
park's Website now refers to Dr. Malice only as a good doctor gone bad, but
nonetheless, promotes his "demented" experiments, such as "Electro-Shock
Trivia" and "Fearanoia" where "fear meets paranoia in an ultimate contest of
'mind survival.'" See
www.sixflags.com/parks/overtexas/home.asp
Netherworld Haunted House (Atlanta)
The "Inner Sanctum" is one of two commercial haunted house attractions located
in Norcross, Georgia, outside Atlanta. See
www.fearworld.com/is.htm.
Until October 25, 2002, Pepsi and Subway both were listed among its "friends
and sponsors," but in response to an initial complaint by NAMI, Pepsi removed
its logo from the Website. The "Inner Sanctum" is billed as "dedicated to
aggressively treating the most severe forms of mental illness" in a research
facility located near the site of "several unexplained gruesome murders." On
the Website page, click on the picture of the "inmates" for individual
stories.
The Netherworld's "Haunted Hotline" is 404-608-2484. Choose Option 4 for a
description of the Inner Sanctum or Option 5 to leave a message. Contacts for
Pepsi and Subway nationally:
Ms. Dawn Hudson, President
Pepsi-Cola North America
700 Anderson Road
Purchase, NY 10577
914-253-2000
Mr. Frederick DeLuca, President
Subway World Headquarters
325 Bic Drive
Milford, CT 06460
Email: asksubway@subway.com
Phone: 800-888-4848
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The NAMI E-News is an electronic newsletter delivering the latest in federal
action alerts, legislative and policy updates, and NAMI press releases.
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lives of individuals with severe mental illnesses and their families.
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Last Updated on
04/14/04
webmaster@namiscc.org
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