Tesco apologises for selling horror movie colouring book to children

[busybeeburns]

 

Tesco apologises for selling horror movie colouring book to children

 

We’ve heard of colour by numbers and join the dots books for children, but not ones where they have to colour in blood-spattered serial killers.

 

Colour Me Good Arrggghhhh! features line drawings of scenes from 18-rated films such as The Shining, Hellraiser, Silence of the Lambs and A Clockwork Orange, as well as from Psycho and A Nightmare On Elm Street.

 

The book was listed on the Tesco website as suitable for five to eight-year-olds despite containing ‘really scary stuff’ and ‘more blood than you can shake a dagger at’. Chris Tuckwood, 56, Spondon, Derby, stumbled across the book while looking for a birthday present for his seven-year-old grandson, Reece.

 

‘It was advertised as being suitable for kids from five to eight – I don’t think so,’ Mr Tuckwood said. ‘It is unbelievable that they can sell such a thing aimed at kids. I don’t think I have to say why it’s unsuitable, that much is obvious. Who on earth are they employing that thinks this is OK?’

 

Tesco said the book, which has now been withdrawn from sale, had been placed on its website by a third party retailer.

 

‘We have very clear guidelines for third-party sellers who list items on our website, and are sorry that on this occasion they weren’t followed,’ a spokesman said. ‘We will be speaking with the seller to remind them of the importance of selecting the right category when listing products with us.’

 

But Mel Elliott, who runs publisher I Love Mel, commented: ‘The front cover of Colour Me Good Arrggghhhh! features a drawing from the horror movie, Psycho in which a woman is stabbed to death in the shower. I believe that this one image is a fairly large clue that this is not a book aimed at children.’

 

Third party retailer Prezzybox.com managing director Zak Edwards acknowledged the book ‘isn’t suitable for children’.

 

‘This mistake came to light in the national press, who rightly picked up upon this error. We apologise for this mistake and will work hard to ensure this doesn’t happen again.’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://metro.co.uk/2013/07/02/tesco-apologises-for-selling-horror-movie-colouring-book-to-children-3865540/

[Black Rose]

Excellent advert for the book though.

[busybeeburns]

would you buy it?

[Black Rose]

Nope, but you can bet it's been made aware to more people than it would have done.

 

Of which some of them will buy it

[busybeeburns]

I hope you don't get me as your secret Santa! :devil:

[busybeeburns]

Tesco (and now Asda) at it again

 

 

Asda and Tesco withdraw 'psycho' patient outfits

 

Supermarket chains Tesco and Asda have withdrawn Halloween outfits featuring mental health issues from sale.

 

Asda's "mental patient fancy dress costume" is no longer available, and Tesco followed suit by removing its "psycho ward" outfit. Following criticism, both stores apologised and agreed to make donations to the mental health charity, Mind.

 

The charity, which complained that such costumes "fuel" stigma, will receive £25,000 from Asda. Tesco has not said how much it will donate.

 

The £20 Asda outfit included ragged clothing, fake blood, a mask and a fake meat cleaver while Tesco's orange boiler suit came with a plastic jaw restraint and offered to "complete the look" with a machete. Online retailer Amazon had also advertised the "psycho ward" outfit, but later said the costume was "not available".

 

A Tesco spokesperson said: "We're really sorry for any offence this has caused and we are removing this product from sale."

 

In a statement on Wednesday evening, Asda, which is owned by US retail giant Walmart, said the sale had been a "completely unacceptable error". "[The costume] should never have been sold and it was withdrawn as soon as it was brought to our attention."

 

Asda added: "We're deeply sorry one of our fancy dress costumes has upset people."

 

It is understood the costume had been on sale through Asda's clothing outlet George for two days, before being withdrawn from sale on Wednesday morning following a complaint from a customer. Asda said the product had been removed from the website in the afternoon but the relevant page remained visible for a few hours.

 

It disappeared after the criticism on Twitter started to emerge. An Asda spokeswoman confirmed £25,000 would be donated to Mind. Meanwhile, online auction site eBay confirmed it had taken "immediate action" to remove items advertising similar costumes and apologised for any offence caused. A spokesman said: "The listings are being assessed and removed and no future listings of this nature will be allowed."

 

Former Downing Street director of communications Alastair Campbell, who has written about his experiences with mental health issues, branded their sale by established companies as "unacceptable".

 

Speaking to BBC London, he said: "We are trying to change attitudes towards mental illness so people do not stigmatise it and something like this comes along and it just reminds you we are basically still in the Dark Ages."We are still in the Dark Ages if some of the biggest companies in this country, Tesco, Asda and Amazon think that it's acceptable to sell something like this."

 

Elsewhere, Katie Dalton, of Welsh mental health charity Gofal, wrote on Twitter: "Dear @asda, how on earth did you come to the conclusion that this is an appropriate fancy dress costume? Disgraceful."

 

Former footballer Stan Collymore, who has had a well-documented battle with depression, also criticised Asda for using a "stereotype". "Do you actually realise how many people are hanging themselves because of being frightened of the stigma?" he tweeted.

 

The charity Rethink Mental Illness also took to Twitter to say it was "stunned" by the costume's description, but later thanked Asda "for responding" to the "concerns".

 

Sue Baker from Mind told BBC Radio 5 live that the worst thing about the costume was it reinforced outdated stigma about people with mental health illness. "Some of the worst myths that fuel this stigma is the assumption that we're going to be dangerous, knife-wielding maniacs and that is simply not the case."

 

She added: "The stigma can be life-limiting and life-threatening because people don't think they can talk to anybody and sadly for some people they take the option of not being with us anymore."

 

The internet link to the website page where Asda's costume was being sold used the words "zombie fancy dress costume".

 

But the product was titled "mental patient fancy dress costume" on the page itself. The product details read: "Everyone will be running away from you in fear in this mental patient fancy dress costume... it's a terrifying Halloween option."

 

Ms Baker had also called for Tesco and Amazon to withdraw the "Psycho Ward" outfit from their websites. Neil Saunders, of retail research agency Conlumino, said such a "mistake in naming a product" was "inevitable" due to the huge number of items sold by major retailers.

 

Responding to news about the costumes, some Twitter users posted pictures of themselves in normal clothes, which one described as "my #mentalhealth outfit for the day".

 

Another tweeted: "@asda I'm a mental health patient. No I am not scary. You should not be selling a 'mental patient' outfit."

 

Dr Simon Williams, from Northwest University, Chicago, said: "This scandal might be a blessing in disguise because it is bringing issues of stigma in mental health to public scrutiny. "This is a great and positive response by individuals and by mental health charities, which will help increase awareness of stigmatisation."

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24278768

 

[Cobalt]

A Tesco spokesperson said: "We're really sorry for any offence this has caused and we are removing this product from sale."

Asda added: "We're deeply sorry one of our fancy dress costumes has upset people."

 

Why does this strike of non-apology to me?

[Comicforce]

OMG! what the HELL.. I mean WHO was this colouring book actually aimed at? :confused:

 

I hope you don't get me as your secret Santa! :devil:

 

^ LOL

 

 

The Mental patient costumes..!! What ARE Tesco doing right now?? :facepalm:

[Batman]

HAHAHAAH fantastic! :laugh3:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I want it :wacky:

[Mollyxyloto]

A Clockwork Orange :o :wacky:

[Black Rose]

Someone probably thought it was a good idea...