There is a profound difference between spooky-scary and scary-scary, a lesson that Home Depot is currently learning the hard way after offering a peeping Tom Halloween decoration that hits way too close to home for some.
Spooky-scary is like the scarecrow you set up in the yard and drape with cobwebs, or the mummy that pops out of a coffin on your porch when trick-or-treaters least expect it. But Home Depot’s “Scary Peeper Creeper” could be just downright frightening, especially for anyone who’s ever had to face a peeping Tom situation in real life: it’s got suction cups so it can be mounted outside someone’s window, and features the full-sized head, face and hands of a leering, hooded man with realistic features.
Home Depot’s website describes the decoration as “perfect for scaring friends and family during Halloween or any other time of the year.”
But at least one customer found it to be too realistic to be fun, CBC reports (h/t AJC.com), and contacted Home Depot after she spotted the item in a store. She says the Creeper is “inappropriate and makes light of a real-life, sinister issue that women face in our society.”
“I fail to see the humour in it,” she told CBC Radio’s Metro Morning show this week. “It makes light of a very serious crime. Voyeurism is a crime in Canada.”
Home Depot agreed after CBC reached out to the company, and says it’ll start pulling the product.
“We agree that this is not in line with our core values, and when we heard, took immediate action and are currently in the process of removing this product from our assortment,” a Home Depot spokeswoman said. “We’ve reached out to advise the customer of our actions and apologize. We’re sorry for any offense that was caused.”
As of Wednesday morning, the Super Creeper was still available on the Home Depot site.
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist
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