Yahoo Finance Walmart’s ‘Suicide Scar Wound’ Makeup Kit Sparks Public Outrage
Each year, 42,773 Americans die by suicide, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. That boils down to about 117 people per day who take their own lives in the U.S. The statistics are scary — and the fact that Walmart sold a Halloween makeup kit this year that glorifies suicide and self-harm struck many as tasteless and insensitive.
The tactless “Razor Blade Suicide Scar Wound Latex Costume Makeup Kit” was being promoted on Walmart’s website with the description “Hollywood quality pre-painted latex suicide razor wrist,” according to the Mighty, and a graphic image of a forearm bearing two simulated razor-blade slashes. The offensive product has since been pulled by Walmart, but only after consumers and mental health advocates caused an uproar, taking to social media to demand that the chain take responsibility for making light of such a serious mental health issue.
One person took a screen grab of the product from Walmart’s site and posted the image to Twitter with the caption, “Hi Walmart, I would like to know which part of this is a suitable costume for anyone. Self-harm isn’t a ‘scary costume’ for all to wear.” Another angry consumer wrote on Facebook, “A ‘suicide latex makeup kit’? This is not only ridiculous but entirely uncalled for.”
Hi Walmart, I would like to know which part of this is a suitable costume for anyone. Self harm isn't a "scary costume" for all to wear pic.twitter.com/BLRpSXGY0J
— t i f f (@tiffxxc) October 24, 2016
Mental health advocate Nicole Lyons, who blogs for Psych Central, was so disturbed by the product that she and Stephanie Bennett-Henry co-wrote a letter to Walmart, calling out the company for its poor judgment by satirizing its choice to sell a suicide-related costume. The letter reads, in part, “Clearly you are trying to make a buck off of one of the most devastating things that could ever befall a family, hell why stop there? You could pump an entire line out of this!”
The letter goes on to mockingly suggest that Walmart “add a cool feature for the blood to shoot out of the veins after the razor tries to find what it looks like on the inside” and “Maybe add a straight jacket and a bucket of psychiatric meds for the ones who don’t quite get the job right and they live with the notion that they failed at that too.”
When interviewed by the Mighty, Lyons — who lives with bipolar disorder — said, “We are huge Halloween fans in this house, and my daughters are often dressed as some of the goriest little things imaginable, but never in my mind will it be OK for a corporation that prides itself on family values to brand and market a product clearly pushing self-harm and/or suicide.”
Another outspoken advocate, Zee Malvern, CEO of mental-health advocacy site Revolving of Doors, launched a petition to get Walmart to remove the product immediately and bring awareness to the epidemics of self-harm and suicide. The petition read:
“This is not just a disgrace to the sensitivity to those who suffer from self-harm, but a shame on Walmart for making light of the situation. This ‘costume’ is real life for many people, many people who are contemplating volumes higher than self-harm. Suicide is not a joke, not a costume, and not funny. Many people who have ‘suicide’ or as I would call it ‘survivor’ scar wounds wish they could make them disappear.”
In response to the controversy, representatives for Walmart removed the product from its site — a move that prompted Malvern to thank the company and proclaim that he is “overjoyed” by the decision. “I want to thank every single person who signed the petition and left their comments. We created social change. One day at a time,” he wrote on Revolving of Doors’ site.
In a message from Walmart’s official Facebook page in response to a consumer’s public complaint, the store concurred that the costume was in incredibly poor taste. And in an official statement to the Mighty, following the decision to stop selling the kit, Walmart reps said: “This costume is appalling and it was unacceptable for a third-party seller to list it on our marketplace. It clearly violated our prohibited items policy and we removed it when it was brought to our attention.”
The third-party seller that Walmart was referring to is the product’s primary retailer, Totally Costumes, which the Mighty said “sells more self-harm/suicide costume items on its site.” Totally Costumes, though, seems oddly intent on standing by its inappropriate product — and placing blame on Walmart for falsely advertising it, despite the fact that the image clearly emulates self-harm.
Totally Costumes told the Mighty, “Upon inspection we see that Walmart has listed the item incorrectly, making it highly offensive; but rest assured, the product is not listed this way on our direct site, or any other channel we use. We have put in a ticket with the Walmart Catalog team to have the item name and description of the listing modified right away. We are not sure why Walmart has it titled the way they do.”
The retailer did not address what, in fact, the kit, advertised as “Open Wound Slash Prosthetics,” is supposed to reflect other than self-mutilation. And the Mighty points out that another costume sold on the retailer’s site — a makeup kit called “Slashed Wrists Prosthetic Appliance,” which has since been taken down — was accompanied by the description, “Give your costume a look so realistic that it seems suicidal.” It might be a bit harder for Totally Costumes to explain that one away.
If you or someone you know has had or expressed thoughts of suicide or self-harm, help is available: Call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting “START” to 741-741.
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