Ditto for the Halloween revelers who are making Irwin's bloodied body one of the more popular costumes for this year's parties.
"It's always going to be offensive," said Kent Kumura, 36, of Murray, who is going to a party this year as the deceased Irwin. "If you go as a mangled Roy [of Siegfried & Roy, who was attacked by one of his show tigers] with a tiger on your neck, it will always be offensive." On Sept. 4, the 44-year-old Irwin, popular host of Animal Planet's wilderness show, "The Crocodile Hunter," was killed at the Great Barrier Reef when a stingray stabbed him in the chest with its spine. He was filming a television program at the time. His death was mourned by fans around the world, but it also prompted speculation about whether the video would ever been seen.
The footage hasn't aired by other macabre representations of the accident are popping up. The new Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy at one point sold out of its plastic stingray bath toys because customers want to create an Irwin costume for Halloween.
"We have people buying a plush [stingray] too. It's kind of funny," said Gregg Sylvia, a shift manager at the aquarium.
No it isn't, said the UK-based Mediawatch, whose director, John Beyer, told CNN it was appalled by this week's "South Park" episode, which features Irwin in Hell.
The episode shows Satan at a Halloween costume party with the likes of Princess Diana, George Burns and Hitler when someone tells him that Irwin is at the party.
"Dude, you know the whole 'Crocodile Hunter' thing, it's just a little soon, you know?" Satan tells Irwin in the scene, which shows a stingray sticking out of Irwin's bloody chest. "I mean, he just died a few weeks ago, and it's just not super cool." The episode, which aired Wednesday, was seen by more than 2.5 million viewers and was the second-highest rated episode of the season so far, according to Comedy Central.
"This is such bad taste, and the makers of 'South Park' should review their decision to show it. Steve's family are still grieving," Beyer told CNN. "To lampoon somebody's death like that is unacceptable and - so soon after the event - is grossly insensitive," he said.
Tony Fox, executive vice president of corporate communications for Comedy Central, the network of "South Park," said some viewers have called the network to complain. But the show's reputation is well known, he said.
The animated series has generated controversy with episodes mocking Scientology follower Tom Cruise and a segment with a menstruating Virgin Mary that drew the ire of the Catholic Church.
"It's provocative, and they ['South Park' creators Trey Park and Matt Stone] do things that some people see as offensive," Fox said.
"Is it too soon? Comics make fun of that notion. Is there an answer to that? I don't know," he added. "That [scene] is Matt and Trey winking at that." Brandon Eyre, the curator of The Living Planet Aquarium, who works with underwater creatures, said no one should be offended if the comedy is funny. "It's all a matter of the way it's done," he said.
"As far as people coming as Steve Irwin, I don't think anyone should be offended by it. In a way, it's for people to remember him."
