Someone Was Stupid Enough To Try To Sell An Anne Frank Halloween Costume And Now People Are Pissed
Halloween is a fun time to forget who you are and pretend to be, well, quite literally anyone else. Of course, there are a set of unspoken rules you usually follow when picking out a costume — appropriation is a huge no-no, for instance, and dressing up like a infamous racist icon is probably not a good idea either. The point is to avoid being insensitive, a point which this Halloween retailers seemed to forget when they started selling Anne Frank costumes.
What. The. Actual. Eff? @AnneFrankCenter are you aware? #annefrank #inappropriate #wtf #wtfisthis #wtfisgoingon #pleasebeascam pic.twitter.com/VxwMf8TEyx
— Noam Friedlander (@Noam25) October 16, 2017
The “Anne Frank Girls Costume” comes with a beret, dress and satchel similar to what Frank wore. One description read: “Now, your child can play the role of a World War II hero with this girls World War II costume.”
In a weird way, I can see how some people could have mistaken this as a good idea — Frank, after all, is very much revered for being a voice for young Jewish children during the Holocaust and is still used today as a figurehead of human rights. Still, a “fun” Halloween costume is probably not the best way to commemorate a young girl who became a victim to one of the greatest tragedies in the Western world.
There r better ways 2 commemorate Anne Frank. This is not one. We should not trivialize her memory as a costume.
— CarlosgeADL (@carlosgeADL) October 16, 2017
@funcostumes pls explain how this is a) fun & b) Halloween costume? Are the @AnneFrankTrust aware of this absurdity https://t.co/mBHej8j2nA
— Lola❤🐾🕊🇬🇧🇮🇱 (@lolasky2014) October 15, 2017
One Twitter user reached out to HalloweenCostumes.com to voice his concern about the costume and was met with a reply claiming that the outfit wasn’t meant to be used specifically as a Halloween costume (despite the company’s name), but also to be used for school projects and plays.
https://twitter.com/RossWalkerSmith/status/919720227696496642
Still, the store quickly gave into online pressure and pulled the costume from their site, which is really no surprise to anyone. Who can fight the power of angry Twitter?