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  #1  
Old Jan 22, 2005, 05:37 PM
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"Crazy for You" Teddy Bear NYTimes article Okay I'm not usually one to get in an uproar about the politically correct war.........however I'd like to hear feedback from ppl here about what they think of this marketing ploy by the VTBC.

</font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>
By PAM BELLUCK Published: January 22, 2005
...But others say a straitjacket on something as cute as a teddy bear trivializes a traumatic experience and reinforces a stereotype of mentally ill people as violent.

<font color="purple">"If Vermont Teddy Bear had produced a bear with a noose around its neck saying, 'I'd love to hang with you,' and called it a Ku Klux Klan teddy bear, the response would be overwhelming disgust and horror," </font> said Anne Donahue, a Republican state representative.

Flip Brown, a management consultant in Burlington, said that "I know that marketing departments need to be creative and even edgy, and you want products that grab attention," but that "if you buy this bear and you have a child who sees it and asks: 'What is that bear doing? Why can't it move its arms?' how do you answer that question?"

Maureen McNamara of Westboro, Mass., whose 13-year-old son has been committed to psychiatric hospitals and put in a straitjacket, started a petition drive against the bear. <font color="red">"You wouldn't have a bear in a wheelchair saying, 'I'm rolling over the hill in love with you,' " she said.... </font>

</div></font></blockquote><font class="post"> Poor choice VermontTBC. This isn't cute nor can it be shrugged off. I'm tired of being portrayed as a marginal part of society by marketing nitwits!! Mentally ill Vermont Teddy Bear Company??

In case anyone would like to let the VermontTBC how they feel about this here is their contact page with e-mails, mailing addy, and phone numbers. Customer Service VTBC

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  #2  
Old Jan 22, 2005, 05:40 PM
wisewoman wisewoman is offline
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I think the Bear has already been pulled. It was a pretty goofy thing for them to come up with.
  #3  
Old Jan 22, 2005, 05:41 PM
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I'm totally with you on this one, zh!
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  #4  
Old Jan 22, 2005, 06:02 PM
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sorry to be the black sheep, but i think it is cute.
i would definately buy a "crazy for you " bear for a boyfriend for valentine's day.(if i had a boyfriend)
i also think it would be a very cute gift for a psychologist or psych tech if you had a coworker and you worked in the hospital, etc...
it's just my opinion that the "politically corect" rule has gone too far in this country, to the point of infringing on basic constitutional rights.
while i understand the defensiveness people may feel about the bear, or that it compounds stigma.... i just know a lot of things can be viewed that way.
example: i have seen many stuffed animals dressed up in a jail outfit with a ball and chain that ex-cons may find offensive, i have seen a lot of angel bears that athiests might take offense to, and devil stuffed animals that religious people may take offense to....
but that is the beauty of freedom of speech...
i speculate that they only pulled the bear, not because they think it is wrong, but because bad press will kill their profits.
  #5  
Old Jan 22, 2005, 06:03 PM
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h0kie h0kie is offline
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For lack of a better word:

Tacky

I agree _zh.

I think people who suffer from mental illnesses have enough trouble being accepted without a teddy bear company furthering the negative stigma. But that's just me. I've become very sensitive about things like that.
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  #6  
Old Jan 22, 2005, 06:23 PM
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I don't think it was pulled - I was able to put one in my "shopping cart" online. Of course I didn't buy it! How insensitive. People are whining that we are trying to be too "politically correct" -- wrong. That's like saying that working towards ending racism and bigotry in the 50's and 60's was being too politically correct. It is simply the right thing to do. Ending prejudice against persons with mental illness is simply the right thing to do!

Straight jackets are not funny. Not in any way.

emmy
  #7  
Old Jan 22, 2005, 06:35 PM
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Shaymus Shaymus is offline
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I guess id think it was a cool gift i could give someone. Kind of making light of my own illness, especially for my girlfriend who has been thru a lot with me this year. I can admit to never having been in a straight jacket so maybe its cause i just dont know.
  #8  
Old Jan 22, 2005, 06:38 PM
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nothemama8 nothemama8 is offline
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Took this to our group here 11 out of 13 feel insulted and think it's tacky
Angie
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Mentally ill Vermont Teddy Bear Company??
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  #9  
Old Jan 22, 2005, 07:34 PM
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Tacky and insulting! Grrrrr !!! Mentally ill Vermont Teddy Bear Company?? Mentally ill Vermont Teddy Bear Company??
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  #10  
Old Jan 22, 2005, 08:55 PM
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I think it is degrading and making fun of a disease no one chose or asked to have beng mentally ill.
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  #11  
Old Jan 22, 2005, 09:55 PM
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good news, it is available for purchase... i do think someone would have to be "crazy " to pay almost $70 dollars for it though. check it out!
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/vtbear/crazyforyou.html
  #12  
Old Jan 22, 2005, 10:18 PM
forgottenmom forgottenmom is offline
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Most of their bears are pretty spendy, When I used to live in Mass one of the radio stations would give them away as prizes sometimes or offer certificates for $30 off I think it's funny and cute but I've never been in a straitjacket either.... I see a lot of tasteless stuff everywhere, I don't think there is a group of ppl that hasn't been picked on by someone ::shrugs::
  #13  
Old Jan 22, 2005, 10:44 PM
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cotton........wait up.......a convict wears stripes because he/she did something that landed him in a fashionably run resort.....a mentally ill person has no such choice. we're just ill, period. it's tacky. it's hurtful and it's shameful. i disagree with you totally. pat
  #14  
Old Jan 22, 2005, 10:51 PM
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then don't buy it...
but it would be a shame if a difference of opinion could cause products to be pulled from the market.
  #15  
Old Jan 22, 2005, 11:11 PM
forgottenmom forgottenmom is offline
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I'm with cotton, there are shows on TV I don't watch because I find them tasteless and offensive, and products I don't buy because I find them tasteless and offensive, but I don't expect the world to stop selling these things on MY account. Else NOTHING in the world would be orange.
  #16  
Old Jan 23, 2005, 12:03 AM
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Addressing this to you Pat, but of course, I know you know....

The issue is about perpetuating the STIGMA of mental illness. SO many of us have faced that first hand. We talk about it right here on this forum. The stigma of mental illness forces people to hide their problems and not seek help.

Things like this stupid bear in a straight jacket equate being "crazy" to being in a straight jacket. It seems a small little joke, but what it does it just reinforce the daily afront in the media regarding persons with mental illness being violent, and in need of restraints.

In addition, people who might seek emergency treatment still fear the old days of "Cuckoo's Nest" hospitals and straight jackets. Restraints are EXTREMELY rare in most hospitals. Everything is done to try to prevent their use since it's SO traumatizing to the patient, the other patients on the ward, and even the staff. Sedating meds are typically used instead.

Someone I loved more than life itself tired to hide her own mental illness, and refused to go into a hospital because she was afraid of what she might face. She was also desparately afraid of what people might think if they heard she was "crazy". So she didn't go. Instead, the choice she made was to die by suicide.

Stigma is not a small thing. The little issues add up. This stupid bear is, yes, a small thing. But a life time of small things add up to a public image of mental illness that MUST change, or people will continue to suffer needlessly.

emmy (an opinionated wench, ehh?)
  #17  
Old Jan 23, 2005, 12:06 AM
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Mentally ill Vermont Teddy Bear Company??

Mentally ill Vermont Teddy Bear Company?? Mentally ill Vermont Teddy Bear Company?? Mentally ill Vermont Teddy Bear Company?? Mentally ill Vermont Teddy Bear Company?? Mentally ill Vermont Teddy Bear Company??
  #18  
Old Jan 23, 2005, 12:09 AM
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h0kie h0kie is offline
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Wow. Very eloquently stated.

Very good points and sound reasoning!

Mentally ill Vermont Teddy Bear Company?? Mentally ill Vermont Teddy Bear Company?? Mentally ill Vermont Teddy Bear Company?? Mentally ill Vermont Teddy Bear Company?? Mentally ill Vermont Teddy Bear Company??
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  #19  
Old Jan 23, 2005, 12:09 AM
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nothemama8 nothemama8 is offline
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Being a former alumni of a state hospital, and being in restraignets (mispelled) it was not pleasent, it was also humiliating
Angie
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Mentally ill Vermont Teddy Bear Company??
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  #20  
Old Jan 23, 2005, 12:14 AM
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I witnessed the use of restraints several times, and it's AWFUL! Just broke my heart. I'm so sorry you had to go through that. Take care sweetie. ((((Angie))))

emmy
  #21  
Old Jan 23, 2005, 12:16 AM
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SweetCrusader SweetCrusader is offline
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</font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>
Addressing this to you Pat, but of course, I know you know....

The issue is about perpetuating the STIGMA of mental illness. SO many of us have faced that first hand. We talk about it right here on this forum. The stigma of mental illness forces people to hide their problems and not seek help.

Things like this stupid bear in a straight jacket equate being "crazy" to being in a straight jacket. It seems a small little joke, but what it does it just reinforce the daily afront in the media regarding persons with mental illness being violent, and in need of restraints.

In addition, people who might seek emergency treatment still fear the old days of "Cuckoo's Nest" hospitals and straight jackets. Restraints are EXTREMELY rare in most hospitals. Everything is done to try to prevent their use since it's SO traumatizing to the patient, the other patients on the ward, and even the staff. Sedating meds are typically used instead.

Someone I loved more than life itself tired to hide her own mental illness, and refused to go into a hospital because she was afraid of what she might face. She was also desparately afraid of what people might think if they heard she was "crazy". So she didn't go. Instead, the choice she made was to die by suicide.

Stigma is not a small thing. The little issues add up. This stupid bear is, yes, a small thing. But a life time of small things add up to a public image of mental illness that MUST change, or people will continue to suffer needlessly.

emmy (an opinionated wench, ehh?)

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

VERY, VERY well said. *applause*
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Mentally ill Vermont Teddy Bear Company??

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  #22  
Old Jan 23, 2005, 12:18 AM
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nothemama8 nothemama8 is offline
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Emmy, I 'AM A SURVIVOR like the rest of us here
Angie
Mentally ill Vermont Teddy Bear Company??
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Mentally ill Vermont Teddy Bear Company??
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  #23  
Old Jan 23, 2005, 12:32 PM
darkeyes darkeyes is offline
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I think this is horrible, to make jokes of this nature and selling items that do so.
VTBC will never recieve any purchases from me, I say boycott
products that such heartless people profit from.
I think this company needs to have maybe a new line, with dark humor teddies, eh?
Sad isn't it.

Take care,
DE
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Mentally ill Vermont Teddy Bear Company??
  #24  
Old Jan 23, 2005, 05:32 PM
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I received this today in my e.mail................thought you'd like to read their response.............p

Dear Pat,

Thank you for your e-mail. We appreciate and acknowledge your comments regarding the Crazy for You Teddy Bear.

The Vermont Teddy Bear Company fully appreciates the serious nature of mental illness and this Bear was not intended to diminish that in any way. We recognize that this is a sensitive, human issue and sincerely apologize if we have offended anyone. That was certainly not our intent.

This Bear was created in the spirit of Valentine's Day and, as with all of our Bears, it was designed to be a light-hearted depiction of the sentiment of love. This Bear was developed just for Valentine's Day and is not a permanent addition to our product line.

In addition to our company's statement above, I would like to assure you that we are documenting all feedback regarding this issue. Each and every comment will be presented to the CEO of our company prior to a forum to be held with officials from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) on February 8.

Again, thank you for your frank comments.

Sincerely,
Jackie
Customer Service Representative
The Vermont Teddy Bear Company
  #25  
Old Jan 23, 2005, 05:38 PM
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just for the record, i saw someone that i loved, and had transported to the hosp, put into a strait jacket and let tell you folks, it's beyond horrible..it's beyond heartbreaking, it's beyond being civilizied, it's beyond any pain that i've ever seen on a loved one's face....that's why i think that a teddy bear in a strait jacket is beyond the pale....pat
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