Joker's Masquerade responds to costume backlash

Earlier this week mental health charities condemned Newbury-based Joker’s Masquerade and a petition was launched by Leeds resident Rebecca Holdcroft after seeing the costumes being sold on the company’s website.
She said: “This is offensive, stigmatising and extremely damaging, not only to public perception of mental illness, but also the people affected by it. It’s not right, and it should stop.”
Responding to the criticism spokesperson for the costume retailer Mike Dawson posted a reply on the company’s website. It reads: “As a company, we feel this (backlash) is wholly unacceptable. Personnel have had to contend with abusive comments, blasphemous and expletive remarks."
The product which was most criticised was entitled “Skitzo” and the costume shop blame the American manufacturer that designed and produced it.
Mr Dawson said: “The costume itself is available for sale in the USA along with many other channels in the UK including a large quantity of competitors and marketplaces. So why is Joker’s Masquerade being singled out? We do not know, other than the perception that mental health advocates choose targeted bullying tactics in an effort to get their voice heard and ‘force’ corporate policy change.
“We will not be forced, but we have listened to the mental health proponents and made various edits to criticised products. This has included renaming product titles, descriptions and category pages to dilute this sensitive area for some.
“We do not make it our intention to offend or incite outcry, though we appreciate that in this multi-cultural and multi-ethical world, many different people will have many different opinions and views. We wish our customers to make choices for themselves and we wish to offer a wide and varied product selection. We will heed public opinion but will make our own decisions too.”
The company’s full response can be read here:

For more on this story and all the reaction pick up a copy of next week’s Newbury Weekly News.