'Crazy' Teddy Bear Blasted By Mental Health Advocates

[Kadie]

'Crazy' Teddy Bear Blasted By Mental Health Advocates
Valentine Bear Comes With Straightjacket, Commitment Papers

POSTED: 9:26 am EST January 12, 2005

MONTPELIER, Vt. -- Vermont's mental health community is protesting one of Vermont Teddy Bear's products.

The Valentine's Day-themed bear, called "Crazy for You Bear," comes in a straightjacket with commitment papers, and is meant to convey out-of-control love.

But the executive director of the Vermont chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill says the bear is "a tasteless use of marketing that stigmatizes persons with mental illness."

Jerry Goessel has asked that the $70 bear be pulled from the market.

more...
http://www.thekcrachannel.com/health/4075017/detail.html

[tk2kewl]

1. This is just the kind of PC lunacy that causes the wingnut backlash

our country is gripped by. IMO anyway

[Medium Baby Jesus]

22. I 100% agree n/t

[saigon68]

2. Jerry Goessel Can stick his PC Bullshit up his ass

He should worry about his patients and less about jokes like


Q: WHY SHOULD WE HIRE THE HANDICAPPED?

A: THEY ARE FUN TO WATCH

[naryaquid]

9. Wow, Saigon...Sounds like

you could give this Goessel Guy a REAL lesson in "Non-PC"!!:wow:

[Redstone]

24. I'm partially disabled (RSDS), Saigon68...

and I still like that joke anyway. Even tell it myself once in a while.

A lot of Americans need to lighten up and regain a sense of humor and perspective (just my opinion).

Redstone

[RoeBear]

3. I quick galnce at the link and...

I thought it said thekracchannel

[Connie_Corleone]

4. AWWWWW...How cute!

http://us.st5.yimg.com/store1.yimg.com/I/vtbear_1827_4830843

[noshenanigans]

5. Aww, I want one!

Cuddly-wuddly.

[ixion]

6. oh for pete's sake

doesn't this clown have something important (like the mental health of his patients) to worry about? :eyes:

It is bogus PC stuff like this that gives neocons ammunition.

[noonwitch]

7. It might be considered tasteless by some, but I think it's funny

I guess it wouldn't be funny if you were someone who ever got put in a straitjacket.

[asthmaticeog]

8. Ohferfucksake!

With all the serious challenges our country faces w/r/t mental health issues and relevant public policy, this pinhead attacks a teddy bear. Well, the grandstanding asshat got his name in the paper - mission accomplished, I guess.

[Redstone]

10. Oh jeez, here we go again...

If you're old like me, do you remember the all the hoo-ha about that song "They're coming to take me away" back in the '60s?

Lighten up, people. It's a goddamn teddy bear!

(PS: This is further proof that the flatlanders really have taken over Vermont. Not that the crusty old Yankees I grew up with up there couldn't use some improvement, but at least they didn't engage in public silliness like this.)

Redstone

[Desertrose]

11. I'm sorry...it IS tasteless.....

Seems to me there have to be more creative ideas than this one.:thumbsdown:

Why would anyone be flattered to receive a bear in a straightjacket?

[Orsino]

25. Yep. Tasteless...

...but no one's getting sued.

[NashVegas]

27. Because If Vermont Teddy Bears Tried to Manufacture a Bear

In wrist cuffs attached to a collar and other bondage gear, they'd lose their wholesome image.

[Downtown Hound]

12. It's garbage like this that gives more legitimate PC issues

a bad name. This dude needs to lighten up.

[biftonnorton]

13. Suggest New Bear To VTB!

They obviously are running with tasteless ideas now, so how about "Never Leave You No Matter What" Bear-- bruised and splinted bear representing the never-ending, codependent love often found in a domestic violence victim?

Vermont Teddy Bear Co should pull the Crazy 4 U Bear, IMO. I guess the company thinks that mental illness is funny and under the stricken person's control, therefore fair game, and that it's not the disease that it is. Nothing funny about the way it can devastate a person's life. Vermont Teddy Bear Co should be ashamed.

[progressiveBadger]

18. Nice!

How about "You crack me up" Bear -- complete with fully functional glass crack pipe. Hey, and what would be wrong with making the Bear black and giving him a gold tooth. Don't be so PC, it's only good humor </sarcasm>

[SmokingJacket]

14. New from our line of Human Misery Bears:

Junky bear (very thin with a wild look in his eye)

Obesity bear (complete with scale)

Alcoholic/Dual diagnosis bear.

Ugh.

[Susang]

16. Exactly

Don't forget Cancer Bear, AIDs Bear and SARS Bear.

Apparently, its mental illness is cute. I had no idea. No one would find it so adorable if it were one of the other diseased bears listed above. I wonder why? :freak:

[Desertrose]

20. then there is the PTSS bear...but don't give him a gun

he might just hear a loud noise and kill all the other bears.....

what has this country come to ......to find humor in others problems?

[Drifter]

15. Then don't buy one ...

Cheers
Drifter

[prayin4rain]

17. Well, Patsy Cline better watch out, she could be next. n/t

[pilgrimm]

19. I work with people who have mental illness

when I'm not posting on DU.

This guy's heart is in the right place, but he needs to get his priorities strait. There are a lot more serious, harmful portrayals of the mentally ill in the media that need his attention. I think this only hurts the cause.

[depakid]

30. I completely agree

Vermont NAMI is completely missing the boat here, which potentially belittles worthy efforts to fight the stigma of mental illness in the media, in films, popular culture and the workplace.

I can't think of anyone (at least the people I know with bipolar disorder) who would be offended by this- though I do know someone who wouldn't mind having the bear- if it weren't 70 bucks!

Sometimes advocates really need to "lighten up" and have a sense of humor....

[bloom]

21. I think it is a really stupid idea, as well

just for the record.

[GarySeven]

23. Why the HELL can't we liberals have a sense of humor?

If Jon Stewart had done this up as a fake prop for his fake news show, we would have been giggling like Limbaugh hopped up on crank. Sheesh!

Now, excuse me while I play with my Dominatrix Barbie.

[handywork]

26. I don't really care about the bear...

but I agree that it's just a stupid Idea...I resent them for not being able to come up with a better idea

[Grace]

28. The knee-jerk reaction

will only increase the sales of this omnivore by 500%. Good job reactionaries!

[bluestateseesred]

29. HELP VT T.BEAR CO. BY WRITING THEM.....CEO WILL SEE AL EMAILS

All of you that believe this is PC gone BAD..... take the time to write them and tell them so (as I have.) The CEO will see all correspondences sent to them via the web site....

I have worked in the MH field for over 20 yrs. and believe advocates have FAR more important issues to work on/take a stand against than THIS wittle bear.....

The company plans to take it off the market AFTER Valentines Day but will not bow down to the whiners before the holiday...which I commend them for(personally I see NO reason for it to ever be taken off the market...)

The straight jacket is a blaring reminder of old treatment methods gone awry and perhaps an embarassment to the MH field in general.

To try to make a teddy bear company stop production of a "gag gift" for a holiday which embraces/celebrates love (albeit a "Hallmark holiday")INSTEAD of focusing on the very REAL, pervasive and relevant issues/problems w/mental health care in the US, is an atrocity!

Its time to stop being PC/petty and get to the heart of what matters to people who receive services as well as work in this field.