Asda and Tesco withdraw Halloween patient outfits

Written by Super User 17 Oct 2014

Supermarket chains Tesco and Asda have withdrawn two Halloween outfits after they were criticised for stigmatising people with mental health issues. Both stores apologised for any offence caused 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.’