62% agree: 'psycho' labels are harmful and stigmatising

An online poll by Sydney’s Daily Telegraph, which asked whether ring tone character ‘Psycho Teddy’ was offensive, found that 62% of votes cast agreed it was.

The poll was in response to a report that Sony BMG has rebranded the character as ‘DJ Teddy Z’. The results show the community’s support of SANE’s efforts to have ‘Psycho Teddy’ removed.

In May this year, SANE StigmaWatch received reports from people living with mental illness, concerned about the impact of ‘Psycho Teddy’ - a cartoon bear that begins cute and cuddly but becomes bad and dangerous when it has a psychotic episode. Promotional material explained the bear was insane and that sending it a text at the wrong time might trigger a psychotic episode.

Callers were dismayed that the taunts and misunderstanding they live with were being used for entertainment.’ SANE Australia Executive Director Barbara Hocking says. ‘SANE took action on their behalf because the combination of the character’s name, animation and lyrics mock mental illness and imply that all psychotic episodes involve violence.’

‘We’re particularly concerned that young people, whose attitudes are often shaped by media, are the target market for a ring tone that could encourage fear and discrimination towards people with psychotic illness. Mental illness often develops in teenage years, so material like this only deters young people from seeking help,’ Ms Hocking said.

Available through Optus, Telstra, 3 Mobile and Vodafone, StigmaWatch contacted each provider to pass on community feedback on the ring tone. Both 3 Mobile and Telstra understood the concerns, responded promptly and ceased its promotion. In response to this, Sony BMG re-branded the character as ‘DJ Teddy Z’ with a new song.

This poll result demonstrates widespread support for SANE’s action. This is much more than political correctness. Thoughtless marketing strategies, which promote misunderstanding and influence community attitudes and actions, can have unintended consequences.

‘People with mental illness are saying loud and clear that they are no longer fair game for these sorts of branding exercises. Marketing strategies that inadvertently promote misunderstanding and poorly influence community attitudes can reinforce discrimination and stigma’, Ms Hocking said.

SANE StigmaWatch is a program of the SANE Media Centre. SANE Australia is a member of the National Media and Mental Health Group, which provides expert advice to the Australian Government's Mindframe Media Strategy – developed to promote responsible accurate and sensitive portrayals of suicide and mental illness in the media.

(Source: StigmaWatch: SANE Australia: August 2008)