Big W forced to pull 'offensive' Halloween costume from shelves: 'Horrific language'

It’s the time of year that zombies, vampires and ghouls will be roaming a neighbourhood near you. While Halloween is all about donning a spooky persona for a night and getting creative with your best scary outfit, one costume - found in several retailers - has been called out for being incredibly problematic and offensive.

The outfit in question is the “Insane Asylum Costume,” which, until days ago, was sold at Big W and Spotlight. It is still available from multiple online stores, including Amazon and Costume Box.

The ensemble consists of a white straight jacket with the words “Property of the County Mental Institution. Approach with caution" plastered across the back, and the advert description reads: "This crazed patient is out of control! If you find yourself in the maximum security psych ward at your local hospital or slammer this Halloween, this outfit will be perfect!"

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Costume branded 'offensive' and outdated

Christina Farrell, a psychologist at Balanced Living Psychology told Yahoo Lifestyle that those selling the costume "had not considered that we have moved way beyond people with mental health concerns being in an institution and that it’s a completely inappropriate portrayal of mental health today".

“It’s so negative and incongruous with the information kids and teenagers are given about mental health from all their other channels – school, parents and social media.

"Plus, mental health doesn’t even have a place in Halloween which is about death and spirits. It shouldn’t be linked at all.”

Mental health organisation SANE quickly called on Australian stores to remove the “archaic, offensive and stigmatising” costume from shelves and slammed the associated suggestion that people with mental health issues are “insane”, “crazed” and “out of control”.

“It's hard enough managing your own internal voices and shame - so to see this kind of language with costumes stocked online from brands like Spotlight Retail Group and Big W is pretty disappointing,” Luke Marshall, a board member for SANE wrote on his LinkedIn.

Big W removes costumes from aisles

Big W has listened to the criticism and has removed the item — which they were only selling online, not in stores — from sale already.

“We are sorry for any impact we may have caused to the community in having this costume available in our Halloween range. As soon as we were made aware, we immediately removed it from sale on Big W Market on October 29” a Big W spokesperson told Yahoo.

They added: “We have spoken with SANE Australia to understand the impact of stigma and experiences of people with complex mental health issues and their families, and are aligned with their position and values.”

Shoppers shocked by costume: 'Very poor form'

The move will have done much to placate the angry voices who, upon reading Marshall’s expose, expressed shock that this is even an issue needing to be fought in 2024.

“Straightjackets? Seriously? Damn right they should be shamed and outed about this. Very poor form and good on you for calling them out,” said one comment on his LinkedIn post.

“Horrific language. But it's good to see you bringing it into the light,” said another.

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“It's hard to understand how this could happen in 2024,” said a third.

“I think kids seeing anyone in this outfit would think it was odd,” Farrell told Yahoo. “The parents would get it, but for kids now, it goes against everything they’ve been told.”

Spotlight stores appear to have removed the item from sale as well, but did not respond to Yahoo’s request for comment.

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