A town council in England has taken down promotional circus posters after a complaint from one woman – in a town of 28,000 – who happens to have a fear of clowns, according to the Daily Mail.
A council has removed posters advertising a circus following a complaint from a woman who is scared of clowns.
Leighton Buzzard Town Hall Council said it took down the adverts after one complaint – in a town of 28,000 people.
An unnamed female resident told the authority the posters were scaring her whenever she drove past them, explaining that she suffers from coulrophobia.
The council removed all of the posters and told the circus not to come back to the town unless it uses promotional material without clowns on it.
‘We take complaints on a case by case basis but this was a short-term, easily solvable problem,’ said council operations officer Lisa Jarvis.
‘The circus is on the park which is our responsibility and we are responsible to our residents, so something like that is in our gift to fix, so we fixed it.’
Circus owner and ringmaster John Lawson said the decision was ‘absolutely ridiculous’ because the circus is only in town for a couple of days.‘What does she do when she drives past McDonalds, I wonder? It’s victimisation,’ he said.
‘We don’t know who it is, but if we did, we’d gladly offer her tickets to come and see… that our friendly clown is nothing to be scared of.’
Apparently, even a phobia expert said this was the wrong way to address the issue, saying, ‘The council have merely accommodated her fear.’
Lawson said he was hoping to speak to the woman to see if they could come up with a compromise for when the circus returns next year, according to BBC News. He told the Leighton Buzzard Observer, “On the poster the clown is very smiley, he’s not sinister at all.”
Well, now he’s a sad clown.
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So now there are 27,999 other people who will not see Mr. Happy on the poster just because of this woman’s irrational fear.
A better alternative would be to lock her in a closet while the circus is in town – and fill the closet with spiders. One season of this behavior modification should remove all fear of smiling clowns.
A less entertaining, but more charitable, option is available. Phobias are readily treatable using EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques). It doesn’t even take much time. She could have been treated and relieved between the time she made the complaint and the night the show came into town.
I have a fear of spiders. Clearly, Professor Jacobson should remove you from this site for making that comment. Sorry, but my rights and all…
I had two nephews years ago, the older one is now dead from some rare ailment. Anyway, when they were young (2-6 years old) they used to think the world revolved around them. The youngest one, who is now an attorney, was the real delight of the two. His mother would take him to the grocery store with her and if he saw something he wanted, in the cart it went – drove my sister nuts! What was really bad though was when she said NO! Screaming, flailing tantrums in the middle of the stores aisles – a real charmer he was.
This reminds me so much of the adults of today; everyone must bend to their perceived needs. Everyone can suffer, but them. Anyone who should be so bold as to oppose their demands, well they should prepare for fire to fall from the heavens.
Forget the closet with spiders. Use a large box taped over their head, filled with spiders! The last thing they’ll be thinking of is those nasty scary clowns!
Yeah, well my kids threw a few tantrums, too. Children do that. I don’t know any that didn’t try it at one time, or another. And, it MUST be trained out of them, if they are to learn to think clearly through stress.
Well, we all know that rodeo clowns can sometimes have hideous, scary faces.
Her parents never should have let her watch Killer Klowns From Outer Space 20 times.
I have a fear of big government and idiotic left wing politicians. Please accommodate my fears.
Please, please, please…me too!
Wise & Exil…Me tooooooo!!
Maybe we could send the out-of-work rodeo clown with the Obammy Mask to comfort the poooor wittle thang’. (-:
“To me, clowns aren’t funny. In fact, they’re kind of scary. I’ve wondered where this started and I think it goes back to the time I went to the circus, and a clown killed my dad.”
Jack Handy, Deep Thoughts,
Gotta’ watch out for those clowns.
BOO!
What was Holder doing in Mexico?
Who ever heard of a black african-american clown? Oh, wait… I forgot about Mooch.
Holder, like most of O’s friends and appointees, passes the Paperbag Test.
Michelle was chosen to appease the Plantation.
We both forgot about the elite group of black african-american clowns. The Congressional Black Caucus.
Evil clowns need love too.
Clowns are just demons in baggy pants. While I understand her distaste for Clowns, and a phobia is a phobia… pulling down all the signs is just silly. It’s like closing all the bars because the mayor’s wife is an alcoholic.
BUT… if we’re going to remove things that scare us, perhaps this next campaign season won’t be so bad after all. “Yer Honor, it can be plainly proved that the face of Sen. Patty Murray causes great distress in small children and half of the Adult population…”
I have a condition that compels me to see more clowns.
Good thing I have MSNBC.
With the MSNBC sound turned off, of course! Much funnier that way! 😉
The rise and fall of the British Empire is concluding before our eyes. It is also what waits for us should we not wake up soon…
What I see here is an attack on Free Enterprise and Free Expression.
They are violating the rights of thousands of citizens to please one idiot who forgot to grow up.
I bet that “unnamed female resident” is a family member of one of the council members; or maybe his/her favorite dominatrix.
To be accurately redundant:
CANNOT possibly make this S*** Up!!
Then there’s the one about the Mexican drug lord killed by a clown. No on will ever be able to convince his family clowns aren’t scary.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/gunman-dressed-clown-kills-mexican-drug-lord/story?id=20625859
I was in a comic book store once when a woman came in and complained about a Wolverine poster in the window. It was actually a close-up of a wolf’s face but the women complained about how intimidated she felt every time she walked by the store.
I see, so, it’s OK to use abusive language, lie to voters, cheat indiscriminately, harm Christians and Jews, murder unborn children, and so for, but an innocuous clown poster that frightens one woman is just too much? Are there no more mature adults left? What has become of all our societies?
Tyranny of the weak.
I have to admit I’m not fond of clowns…especially the one who resides in the white house.
Then this means it is high time to remove all “clowns” who appear on the television, even those from D.C.