Mentally ill Vermont Teddy Bear Company??

okay........i'll say it..........

*****Because Nice Matters*****

and nice is not just saying "pardon me", "thanks", "i'm sorry"...sometimes nice means that you consider what effect something that you're planning to do will have on others, before you do it.......this is one of those times................end of my discussion on the teddy bear fiasco...pat

I am surprised it wasn't pulled. Had heard news alluding to that. Seems like a no brainer to me. dumb move from the company causing pain and allienation.

Good job Pat, I guess our voices were heard thru you, if you wanted too you could have faxed them my comments. I think PsychCentral's voices are as loud as NAMI's too
Angie

thanks....i'll go to my grave being an activist...

I got the same note from my good friend Phelan at Customer Service. I'm glad they are meeting with NAMI....but I notice how the timing is perfect. They can get in LOTS of sales between now and then! Grrr....

emmy

To get your OWN love letter from them, just fill out this online form saying simply that you think the bear in the striaght jacket is offensive. It's VERY easy. Just leave the order # blank. and phone # blank and it works fine. MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD! :

http://www20.vtbear.com/vtb/customerserviceform.php

thank you for the link. i viewed the bear and i submitted my comment. outrageous!

kd

i received a reply and it was the same exact wording as the one posted here. aparently, they're sending the same one to anyone who responds to this particular teddy bear.

they're not addressing my concern, they're pushing a button.

kd

ok, i wasn't going to reply so i wouldn't upset anyone. but just about EVERYTHING out there is hurtfull to SOMEONE. they don't pull movies with horrible rape scenes, nor do we get a warning that one is coming up. so i turn it off. everything is trigger for someone.

I'm putting words in her mouth, but I don't Kimmy meant triggering when she said "pushing a button"....I think she meant that they are using an automated message reply function.

But of course, you and everyone are entitiled to their opinions on the issue of da bear. That's what's great about this place.

emmy

In addition to my snail mail I submitted this for their viewing pleasure </font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>
To whom it may concern,

The very fact that your marketing department and your sales department have come up with such an offensive idea is beyond comprehension. That you haven't pulled this item because "it was designed to be a light-hearted depiction of the sentiment of love" is just flat out wrong! Exactly how does a bear in a straight jacket depict love?! And is the fact that this extremely offensive seasonal item is not a permanent addition to your line supposed to somehow placate the growing number of offended citizens?

Your decision to not meet with NAMI until the 8th of February speaks of your company's eye on the bottom line instead of the socially and morally correct thing to do. By not pulling this bear you have already shown your company to be insensitive to the reality of mental illness in this country.

A number of mental health message boards are having long conversations regarding this issue and the majority consensus is your company will suffer financially because of your lightheared approach you've shown with this matter thus far.

Shame on you! Shame on all of you for not pulling this product and getting with the times that mental illness is about as funny as cancer.

With great offense,

</div></font></blockquote><font class="post"> and yes I did go look at more than one mental health website to see reaction about this fracas.

I look forward to my form answer from them. Tools!

p.s. for those that think this is all something about nothing I will join those speaking up of personal experience with restraints or a strait jacket or the loved ones witnessing the use of these items on a loved one and the workers of the facilities where such items are used.

I witnessed the use of heavy restraints on a coed teen county psych unit and it was terrifying to watch four men hold down one patient in a four point hold (think spread eagled face down) and attach these restraints to some kid. I have nightmares to this day about some of what I witnessed on that ward. I find nothing lighthearted about straight jackets or restriants. Yeah my mental illness is freakin' hilarious! grrrrrrrrrr

I complained too. Being in restraints feels a lot more like rape than like anything resembling love. It's humiliating and terrifying. Why would they want to do that to a teddy bear? Some things aren't funny.

yep, emily, you were right. good words

i meant that they were simply pushing a button to send an automated reply and not even looking at me email.

kd

As of today, my paper showed an ad for the bears. This is an absolute outrage. Surely the NIMH, (National Institute of Mental Health), or someone will make sure they are levied a huge fine. They may not care what we think, but money certainly talks.

Not sure if this is good news or bad news...seems like all it did was make the bear a hot collectable:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/n...&amp;cset=true

sorry that is all you feel was done.

I personally think the conversations raised awareness and brought shameful stigma back into the public eye. Don't know about you but I sure could use a helluva lot less stigma over my mental illnessess and the resulting behaviours. That's just me.

How sad for anyone who spends that much on a bear in restraints. Nothing like a straightjacket and commitment papers to show love, eh?! Whoopie for them I guess. : shrug :

Instead of commitment papers how about entering buyers of this product to state hospital involuntarily for a week. Then see what they think of the lightheartedness of it all. If it is all in fun then let them experience the 'fun' of mental illness in all its glory.

Oh no, I'm sorry, I don't think I said it right. What I was trying to say is that it sort of seems to me like the Vermont Bear Company is trying to sound like they did something good, but they sold every one of those bears they made, and got plenty of free publicity as well. And after saying "no one can tell us what we can and can't sell" earlier, when they were refusing to pull the bears off the market, now that the bears are all sold, they are trying to portray themselves as compassionate. But their actions really only turned one of their bears into a hot property.

It was Vermont's handling of the situation that I was thinking of, not the conversation surrounding it.

Jo

dense head and little sleep make for a fogged hussy!

thank you for your gracious explanation which got through this hard noggin' this morning.

here we are working to erase the stigmas associated with mental illness and WHAM! we come up against the stereotypes of the cold bottom dollar america corporate culture.

Would be nice if bears got recalled due to mental abuse, I'm not joking on this

Maybe we should start a campaign to have their straight jackets removed and their committment papers burned!

The letters to the bear owners would begin:

Dear Ignorant Gooberhead:

Emmy

poo... MJ that site said I needed to have a subscription!

And the ending should be
A Snert Buster

Gee, Katt, I don't know why it's saying that. I didn't need a subscription to see it. Anyway, here's the text:

`Crazy' bear off market, maker says

By David Gram
Associated Press
Published February 4, 2005

MONTPELIER, Vt. -- The Vermont Teddy Bear Co. said Thursday that its straitjacketed "Crazy For You" bears are sold out and no more will be made.

For weeks, the advocates and Republican Gov. James Douglas have criticized the toy as insensitive. The $69.95 bear, marketed as a Valentine's Day gift, came with a straitjacket and commitment papers.

The company said it had decided weeks ago that it would stop making the bears but would keep selling them through Valentine's Day.

A company spokeswoman said the bear had sold unusually well, but would not give figures.

Mental health advocates cheered.

"We believe the Vermont Teddy Bear Co. has come to understand the harm caused by creating an image that trivialized the pain of people with severe mental illness, and that reinforced public stereotypes regarding appropriate treatment for such individuals," four advocacy groups said in a statement.

Last week, company President and CEO Elisabeth Robert had apologized to anyone offended by the bear but said it would not be taken off the market. "We're not in a position to be told what we can and cannot sell," she said.

On Tuesday, she met with representatives of the Vermont chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill and three other groups.

"We sat around a Vermont kitchen table and talked," Robert said in a statement Thursday. "From the respectful, human discourse I learned a lot about the significance of stigma in the mental health community and the plight of real people who suffer from mental illness."

"Again, we are truly sorry if we hurt anyone with this bear," she said.

The bears were offered on eBay on Thursday for as much as $175.

OMG! 175!!!

</font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>
sorry that is all you feel was done.

I personally think the conversations raised awareness and brought shameful stigma back into the public eye. Don't know about you but I sure could use a helluva lot less stigma over my mental illnessess and the resulting behaviours. That's just me.

How sad for anyone who spends that much on a bear in restraints. Nothing like a straightjacket and commitment papers to show love, eh?! Whoopie for them I guess. : shrug :

Instead of commitment papers how about entering buyers of this product to state hospital involuntarily for a week. Then see what they think of the lightheartedness of it all. If it is all in fun then let them experience the 'fun' of mental illness in all its glory.

</div></font></blockquote><font class="post">

Hear, hear!!! I'm in agreement with you all the way. I've been majorly appalled by this entire situation. When I first found out about this bear, I e-mailed the manufacturer and gave them what's left of my mind.

This bear angers me greatly but what angers me more is the company who thought this was a cute thing to demonstrate love. Even putting aside the mental illness issue aside, it would demonstrate a very wrong kind of love, having to restrain the one you supposedly love. Just reeks of abuse to me.

Just what was the designer of the bear and the manufacturer thinking, oh that's right, they weren't.

"Again, we are truly sorry if we hurt anyone with this bear," she said.

The bears were offered on eBay on Thursday for as much as $175.

What is that load of crap? IF we hurt anyone? IF IF IF, they still don't get it. What were all those letters and e-mails about that we all sent IF they weren't about hurt.

This just outrages me even more that they STILL can't admit that bear has done a LOT more than hurt.