Dive Brief:
- The "Mental Patient Fancy Dress" and "Psycho Ward" Halloween costumes were pulled in the U.K. by Walmart subsidiary Asda and Tesco.
- Advertisements showing the costumes prompted backlash from mental health advocates—including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's media chief, Alastair Campbell—on social media, and the two retailers have apologized for selling them.
- Mind, a mental health charity, praised the decision to pull the "staggeringly offensive" costumes and called the outcry encouraging.
two down one to go. @asda and @tesco withdrawing mental patient costumes @amazon over to you #timetochange pls `RT
— Alastair Campbell (@campbellclaret) September 26, 2013
Dive Insight:
This incident is a sign that increasing awareness of mental health issues—and the stigma facing those who experience them—has impacted the marketplace and shifted public opinion away from products like this. Still, while Asda and Tesco should have known better than to sell costumes marketed as "Mental Patient" and "Psycho Ward," the manufacturers likely could have prevented the uproar and kept their costumes on shelves if they marketed them with different wording.
