Media Coverage reflecting epilepsy

[alivenwell]

Have you seen the latest issue of Mad Magazine? The fake advertisement in its August issue reflects a person with epilepsy and a sarcastic, potentially harmful way to treat a seizure.

Circuit City retracted the issue from its shelves.

[Wally]

Have you seen the latest issue of Mad Magazine? The fake advertisement in its August issue reflects a person with epilepsy and a sarcastic, potentially harmful way to treat a seizure.

Circuit City retracted the issue from its shelves.

Yes it was in very poor taste. But then Mad magazine hasn't been funny for a very long time. Maybe it's just funny when you are in grade school. I hope someone goes after them for it.

[alivenwell]

Yes it was in very poor taste. But then Mad magazine hasn't been funny for a very long time. Maybe it's just funny when you are in grade school. I hope someone goes after them for it.

Maybe it can be used as an educational method on how not to treat a seizure. Poor taste, I suppose. They usually have parody on numerous movies, TV programs, and other stuff.

I'm torn between commending Circuit City for retracting that issue and writing to Mad Magazine for reflecting their poor taste of a difficult medical condition.

[Bernard]

You can do both.

[Bernard]

I just checked for the issue online and see the print magazine costs $5 now. Wow.

Anyway, there is a preview of the magazine available that includes the parody ad (1.8MB .PDF file):

http://www.dccomics.com/media/excerpts/10304_x.pdf

Here's a screenshot:

[Meetz1064]

vote for doing both.

I find that Mad Magazine DISGUSTING. I'm sorry, I DO have a really good sense of humor, but this is ridiculous. *SIGH*

[haird18]

Everytime I see something on seizure disorders being in the media is negative. There is one exception though I was whatching a new t.v. series this summer on the USA network called in " In Plain Sight " that showed a person having a seizure and no one made jokes! The same as on a old series called "Nash Bridges"
David

[Belinda5000]

all the media coverage I've seen about epilepsy is just about kids.
You wouldn't even think adults had had it.
They did tell of a man that had disappearred and needed his meds and that he had epilepsy.Several days later he showed up.
I called a TV station once talked to someone about how they only talk aboukids and epilepsy and epilepsy.
My neurologist was interviewed on tv about epilepsy once.


Belinda

[Bernard]

After looking at the fake ad, I'm not sure there is anything to commend Circuit City on. The ad makes fun of them and if they even have this magazine for sale in their store (do they sell print magazines? I didn't think so), they likely pulled it because of that and not any concern for the way epilepsy was portrayed.

[Bernard]

Apparently, the Epilespy Foundation has sent a letter to MAD magazine. This was reported in the EFA forums. No details on what the letter said.

[Dutch mom]

This bad taste 'joke' reminds me of a Dutch campaign, 2 years ago, run by the National Epilepsy Fund Foundation in Holland.
They do a new campaign for epilepsy awareness each year along with the annual fundraising week each official fundraising charity in Holland has.

The media advertisments and tv spots were build around the slogan "There are scarier things than epilepsy", wich COULD have been a good slogan for spreading a particular educational message to the public: don't be afraid when someone has a seizure.

COULD have been, because the campaign was illustrated with a sense of humor our particular group of parents could not appreciate at all.

Epilepsy was compared in the media with "scarier things' like: men in leggings, a construction worker from the back with his pants showing his ass, false teeth in a glass of water, cigarette stubs on a dinner plate...
Humor CAN be a good way to get attention, but is this the type of attention you want? Lauging about... one example:



Parents of our group have kids with very, very scary types of epilepsy syndroms and see their kids suffer 10 to 100 seizures a day, we have to watch our kids retarding in development or become multiple handicapped, 14 parents of our group have lost their child. For us there are NO scarier things than epilepsy... And catching attention with tasteless humor is not the way to get attention for our problems.

Many parents wrote to the foundation about their feelings for this campaign and some of us ended our memberships. The foundation realized we, parents to kids with devestating types of epilepsy, were a 'forgotten group', a group that felt offended by this campaign; they opened a special forum part to explain and discuss the campaign.
Last year there was explicid attention for children and epilepsy syndromes... So they've learned from feedback

[alivenwell]

That ad is just bizarre. It's trying to lighten the stigma, but at the same time, it reduces the seriousness of epilepsy. It loses the entire point that there are so many types of seizures.

[Belinda5000]

Has anyone tried click on to www.epilepsie.nl
in the add or whatever it is with the man wearing the leggings?
don't it sent me into a seizure because of flashing lights saying epilepsy.
when I came out of it I rebooted my computer to get off the site.


Belinda

[Bernard]

I just opened the site because of your post, but I don't see any flashing graphics except for one small 88x31 button. The frame rate on it is very slow.

[Belinda5000]

go up to the ad where the man is wearing the leggings next to the car and below him
in black is where u have to go to click on www.epilepsie.nl


click on that

not what I posted .
message 11


Belinda

[Bernard]

Got it. I've removed the link to the flashing site. Dutch Mom, why did you include a link to that site?

[Belinda5000]

Bernard,
why thank you I appreciate I wish my back could say the same.
oh well live and learn.

Belinda

[haird18]

Bernard,
Out here in west Texas our local news has been covering more news than I seen in the past several years. One station each day has been talking about new advances and discussing epilepsy and safety tips , also about the stigma of people with epilepsy.
David Hair

[Dutch mom]

I'm sorry Bernard, didn't realized at all that I included a link, I just copied the add and did'nt know the link was working. I usually try every link I post to see if it works.
The image is the same as the posters etc. that were used in Holland for the campaign and I googled it up to show an example (this campaign was 2 years ago.)
Anyway, when I open the official website myself, I see nothing flashing, just like Bernard didn't when he tried the link Belinda posted.
So I've tried the original poster again and I did see what you mean... Sorry, sorry, sorry Belinda!!!!!
I really didn't realize because the link is just the same as the one I use very often to visit the foundations website.
I don't understand how the same link can open in different ways.

[Dutch mom]

I've send an e-mail about the flashing site on the poster to the website I copied it from and a CC to the Epilepsy Fund, with a request to disable the flashing link.