The professional body for clowns, The World Clown Association (WCA), has expressed concern over the publicity surrounding the remake of Stephen King's cult classic It, which stars clown killer PennyWise.
Pennywise plays a clown, who goes on a murderous rampage, killing children in the town of Derry, Maine in the US.
President of the WCA, Pam Moody, said in a recent interview with the Hollywood Reporter, that the 2016 creepy clown craze, where random people dressed up as clowns and spooked people, deeply impacted the industry.
"Last year we were really blindsided. People had school shows and library shows that were canceled," Moody said.
'Not a True Clown'
As a result the WCA are taking steps to try and avoid a similar thing happening once It is released globally in cinemas.
"We've since created a press kit to prepare clowns for the movie coming out. The guide, 'WCA Stand on Scary Clowns!!' clearly states that 'the character in the movie It, should be understood to be a fantasy character — not a true clown,' " Ms. Moody said.
However, not everyone feels sorry for the red-nosed entertainers.
It's producer David Katzenberg, called the protests from the clowning industry "absurd."
The author of the book, Stephen King, also tweeted that children have always had coulrophobia, which refers to having a fear of clowns.
The clowns are pissed at me. Sorry, most are great. BUT…kids have always been scared of clowns. Don't kill the messengers for the message.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) April 10, 2017
However Ms. Moody is adamant that the creepy clown faze of 2016 is still impacting the industry and her in particular.
She refers to a recent example, where one of the WCA members arrived early for an appearance at a child's birthday party, so they had to wait outside in their car and their make-up until they were scheduled to perform.
"She looks up and there are four police officers surrounding her. Someone in the neighborhood called in a clown sighting!" Ms. Moody said.
