A Strange Sense of Humor

Printer Says It Can Improve Suicide Notes




WELLINGTON, Ohio (AP) -- Health officials expressed outrage Friday over a fake suicide scene displayed in a shop window to sell printing services.

The display at Special Effects, a video and printing store in this northeast Ohio village, shows empty beer cans on the floor near an overturned table below dangling legs meant to look like a person who hanged himself.

On a nearby table is a short, scrawled suicide letter on a piece of notebook paper - and another note that's lengthy and professionally printed.

A sign reads, "Contemplating suicide? Let Special Effects give your suicide note that professional look."

The head of the state agency in charge of suicide prevention said the display goes too far.

"We have to hope it reflects ignorance," said Michael F. Hogan. "When suicide takes almost 1,000 lives every year in Ohio - more than murder or HIV-AIDS - and when 20 percent of high school students think about suicide every year, we need messages encouraging life, not death."

Storeowner Chris Goran said Friday that almost all her customers thought the display she put up last week was amusing, and that she never intended to offend anyone.

"It certainly wasn't meant to elicit all of this emotion," Goran said. "I have to stand by the opinion that it's generating people talking about suicide, and if people talked about it more maybe there would be less."

Goran said she would keep the display up but may add a sign with a suicide prevention hot line phone number.

Someone has really bad taste. Thats sick. Apparently, this person has not known anyone affected by a loved one committing suicide.

That is DISGUSTING!

i don't like that

It's not even funny. :confused:

It is hurtful, stupid, and did exactly what she wanted - got peoples' attention. Sigh. I hope she takes it down immediately.

How totally insensitive!

I don't remember if anyone remembers the imperial margarine commercial where a potato impales itself on a fork because it's in love with the margarine and can't be near it? Well as soon as I saw that commercial I wrote to the company and told them that I thought the commercial was in poor taste and was totally inappropriate. They wrote back immediatly, the commercial went off the air and in about a month's time a new commercial that took place in a grocery store came out. That was a POTATO. I can't believe this woman wouldn't even consider removing her display :mad:

You can't give what you don't have - and obviously this woman is about nine yards short of any kind of sensitivity.

Suicide is horrible legacy. I have known several families who have suffered for years because of suicides of one of their loved ones.

Geez, some people might get a chuckle from that, but many more would be terribly offended as suicide has touched the lives of so many - I know I would be outraged if I saw something like that here in Brisbane!

What an idiot! Like catnapper said, apparently she hasn't been close to someone who committed suicide.

My son just recently started hearing about suicide at school. It'd become like a joke to him. So I finally sat him down the other day and told him about how my father committed suicide when I was a baby. He seems young to me to know about that, but I want him to understand that suicide is no laughing matter. It's a tragedy that effects many people for several generations.

wow she is either really a cold (u know wut) or is a few fries short of a happy meal. Suicide is no joke espically now with prices going up and jobs ..not then u got the war on top of all that
and I don't think talkin about suicide more would help people...unless its on 1 on 1 basis with the right therapist

The owner/manager said some people found it "amusing" :confused: :mad: And the ad agency that thought this up :confused: sick, sick sick and terribly sad :(

I can't see how anyone would find that amusing. :( :mad: