Bunnings has removed a controversial Halloween straitjacket costume from its online marketplace after mental health advocates criticised retailers for selling outfits they say mock people living with mental illness.
SANE Australia renewed its call for Bunnings, Kmart and Spotlight to withdraw the Rubie’s Insane Asylum costume, two years after raising concerns about similar products.
Big W removed the outfit from its online marketplace after being notified of the complaint in 2024. SANE chief executive Rachel Green said Spotlight had also taken down similar costumes after criticism that year, but later listed them again.
She said it was unacceptable for companies to publicly support mental health initiatives while continuing to profit from products that reinforced stigma.
“Straitjackets are archaic, offensive and stigmatising. This can deepen discrimination and make it harder for people to seek the support they need,” Ms Green said.
“No one would expect to see for sale a cancer patient costume for Halloween. Why is the mental illness patient costume acceptable?”
Ms Green said she was disappointed that the issue had resurfaced and wanted retailers to take greater responsibility for the products they approved for sale.
“I don’t want to be here again next year making the same post,” she said.
Mental health advocates condemn Halloween costumes
Sandy Jeffs, who lives with schizophrenia, said the costumes portrayed people with mental illness as frightening figures who needed to be restrained.
“It’s what I call mad shaming,” she said. “It’s shaming people who have a mental illness to depict them as objects of ridicule and discrimination.”
Ms Jeffs said straitjackets were relics of the past and that the costumes relied on outdated stereotypes about the treatment of people with mental illness.
She warned they could reinforce the misconception that people living with schizophrenia were dangerous.
“It’s a very lazy trope,” she said, adding: “I’m not a monster. I’m not a caricature of a person.”
“Most of us are very ordinary people. Most of us are not mass murderers or mad geniuses. Just very ordinary people living with a very extraordinary illness.”
Ms Jeffs urged retailers to consider the message sent by selling the costumes, particularly when they also supported mental health causes.
“Madness is not a joke. My mad comrades are not jokes,” she said.
Bunnings removes costume from marketplace
A Bunnings spokesperson said the costume had been removed after the concerns were brought to the company’s attention.
“We understand the concerns raised, and once the listing was brought to our attention, it was removed from Bunnings Marketplace,” the spokesperson said.
The costume remained listed by other online retailers, including Spotlight, Kmart and Amazon. Kmart and Spotlight were contacted for comment.
