Mental Health Activists Blast Novelty Item : ‘Certifiably Nuts’ Toy Called ‘Attack’ on the Ill

A sack of Georgia peanuts wrapped in a tiny straitjacket and dubbed “Certifiably Nuts” is being marketed as a novelty gift poking fun at the insanity in all of us. But mental health advocates aren’t laughing.

The Los Angeles County Mental Health Advisory Board and representatives of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill expressed outrage Thursday at the doll-like item that sells for $19.95 and comes supplied with a patient history and commitment papers that certifies one’s insanity.

“We were shocked and aghast to learn about it,” said Peter McDermott, who chairs the county’s mental health advisory board. “It’s not a joke, it’s a travesty and an unfortunate attack on people who are mentally ill.”

Donald J. Richardson, immediate past president of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill--a group of 70,000 families and some 100,000 members--agreed. He called Certifiably Nuts a “slur” that only reinforces harmful stereotypes of the mentally ill.

Object of Scorn

“It is one of the most flagrant of all stigma-producing items that I have ever seen,” said Richardson, who has two adult sons with schizophrenia.

In a letter to the product’s distributor, Richardson said the alliance was upset at the product--which erupts in a frenzy of recorded giggles at the pull of a string--and added that “my sons and millions of other Americans coping with this illness need understanding and compassion, not mockery and scorn.”

The novelty item was the brainchild of Manhattan Beach advertising executive Tom Binnion and Jon Reeder, an art director at the Los Angeles office of the BBDO ad firm. And both men staunchly defend their product.

“We never intended to belittle people who are seriously mentally disabled,” Binnion said. “If anything, we hoped to focus attention on them by focusing attention on the insanity in us and around us in all our lives.”

Mentally Ill Employees

Binnion said his product was test-marketed in Seattle and has been in stores across the country with few complaints. He emphasized that it was an adult novelty, not a doll for children, and that the protests have been from only a few mental health organizations.

“They may not know we even employ mentally ill people to assemble our product,” Reeder said. “They’re the ones who fill our nut bags, put the voice box in and put the whole bag together.”

Although both said their product is being sold nationwide, mental health advocates in Los Angeles said they were alerted to the product after reading a story in The Times on Monday that included a picture of the Certifiably Nuts item.

The product was reported sold in Robinson’s department stores, but a Robinson’s spokesperson said Thursday that the store has never sold the item and doesn’t plan to.

However, Tom Behlmer, an owner of Creative Imaginations Inc., the Santa Fe Springs distributor for Certifiably Nuts, stated that the store pulled its purchase order after being pressured by mental health activists--the same day The Times story appeared.

“Robinson’s had an order, and we were going to ship that day and they canceled,” said Behlmer who added that 10,000 to 50,000 items have been distributed nationwide this year. Some were shipped to be sold at Disney World in Florida, he said, but most items are sold in novelty shops and small gift stores.

Meanwhile, mental health advocates vow to step up their campaign including possible action against retail outlets that display the products unless the item is pulled from the shelves or modified. McDermott said his advisory panel also will ask the county board of supervisors to join in protesting the product. But the creators of Certifiably Nuts say they have no intentions of changing a product that, so far, has only enjoyed modest financial success.

“We never did this to get rich,” Reeder said. “Tom and I are both in the advertising field, and we always kind of wanted to design a product ourselves. It sounded like a fun idea.”