Halloween is in less than two months and the controversial adult costumes are already available. As fans try to get Spirit Halloween’s Caitlyn Jenner costume pulled, a rival costume company has launched its own bizarre costume: a Cecil the Lion killer outfit that even comes with a severed head.
Back in July, Cecil’s story went viral, especially after it was discovered that Minnesota dentist Walter J. Palmer was behind the killing of the beloved Zimbabwe lion. Hoping to capitalize on the story’s publicity, Costumeish.com has made a “Lion Killer Dentist Halloween Costume.”
For a whopping $59.99, you get a bloodied dentist uniform, white gloves and a (fake) severed lion head. In some weird attempt to prove that they have a heart, the company says that 15 percent of all proceeds will go to a wildlife foundation.
Thankfully, there are people who think this is nuts. Costumeish.com CEO JOnathon Weeks told TMZ that since it went live Tuesday morning, none have been sold.
“While we applaud the idea that some of the proceeds should go to lion conservation, nevertheless it does seem inappropriate to be trivialising this very serious issue in this way,” Born Free’s Mark Jones told the BBC. “Halloween has become synonymous with gore and frightening things, and Born Free certainly finds lion hunting a gory blood sport with frightening consequences for lions.”
As we previously noted, Spirit Halloween has also made a splash with its Jenner costume that costs $74.99. An activist for the transgender community has started a Change.org petition to get the costume pulled and already has over 7,000 signatures.
screenshot from Costumeish.com