On Twitter today I came across this product, described as "The OCD Chef" Chopping Board. As you will see, it is described as something which "You may become obsessed [by] this OCD cutting board". For anyone who doesn't know the ins and outs of OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), it is an anxiety disorder characterised by persistent worries and anxieties which result in "compulsive" behaviours, some of the most common being checking things, washing hands repeatedly and being obsessed by things being "correct", ordered and safe. I know this because I personally have suffered with OCD and today I was told to be "in recovery" from this condition. Hopefully this will give you some insight into why this product and its grotesque marketing struck such a nerve with me.

A closer look at the product itself tells how "...it's OK to go a little overboard. And if you want to wash it twenty times after you use it, we won't tell". The manufacturer Fred & Friends, intentionally or otherwise, clearly displays a patronising level of insensitivity when trivialising the (very real) effects of this mental health condition, which typically affects around 2% of the UK population. Shockingly, in my eyes, this attitude truly highlights the tragic levels of unawareness still prevalent today when it comes to talking about mental health - an attitude perpetuated by this product and by Amazon's irresponsibility in marketing it.

This product is marketed as a grotesque gimmick which thrives off of this mental illness that often takes over people's lives. Whilst the board itself not only pokes fun at the "obsessive" nature of the namesake mental health condition, I found the wording of your advertising to be particularly offensive. As someone who has personally worked tirelessly to overcome the exhausting effects of my own battle with OCD, the description of the product being "...OK to go a little overboard. And if you want to wash it twenty times after you use it, we won't tell." is a clearly distasteful, patronising dig at the very nature of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. The vicious cycle of obsessive thought and compulsive behaviour is not something to used as a cheap marketing gimmick to portray OCD as a quirky, cute and 'different' way of life. Washing something "twenty times" is a CLEAR REFLECTION of the loss of control associated with the compulsive side of OCD.

As you can see, the cutting board is seen to appeal to the "OCD Chef". To me and to many others, this can surely be perceived as mirroring unhealthy thought behaviours that allow mental illness to define and consume a person's character. I am deeply saddened that this product seems to take great pleasure in the connotations of "Obsessive" and "going overboard" - tell me exactly, is "going overboard" in relation to your excessive mockery of one of the world's most common mental illnesses, or is it a dig at the spiral of obsessive compulsive behaviours that so soul-crushingly impact "obsessive" OCD sufferers? "We won't tell" is a woeful reflection of how many OCD sufferers keep their condition to themselves for so long, as did I, so terrified by the stigma attached to mental health in a supposedly more liberal society.

I urge your company to reconsider its stance with regard to this product.  It is morally abhorrent that Amazon has abused its position of responsibility given its status as the world's largest online retailer. The product must be removed to promote better understanding of common mental health issues and allow the internet to be a platform to end stigmatsation that this product so clearly thrives on. Please further the efforts of OCD UK in raising awareness of this mental illness, which begins with changing attitudes.

Amazon's tweet promoting the "OCD Chef" cutting board

Link to Fred & Friends product page