H&M apologises for racist ad featuring a black child in "monkey" hoodie

H&M has since pulled the ad, but celebrity ambassadors like The Weeknd have announced their dissociation from the brand

09 Jan, 2018

H&M has apologised for a racist advert featured on their site.

"This image has now been removed from all H&M channels and we apologize to anyone this may have offended," said H&M spokeswoman Anna Eriksson in a statement.

The clothing brand had a young black model in a hoodie that says "The coolest monkey in the jungle" on their online store and it caused an outrage on social media. People commented on how offensive the advert is, including many celebrities, artists and designers.

Many decided to reclaim the image and show what it should have actually been.

@hm u got us all wrong! And we ain't going for it! Straight up! Enough about y'all and more of what I see when I look at this photo. I see a Young King!! The ruler of the world, an untouchable Force that can never be denied! We as African Americans will always have to break barriers, prove people wrong and work even harder to prove we belong but guess what, that's what we love because the benefits at the end of the road are so beautiful!! #LiveLaughLove❤️ #LoveMyPeople🤴🏾👸🏾👨🏾‍⚖️👩🏾‍⚖️

A post shared by LeBron James (@kingjames) on Jan 8, 2018 at 3:58pm PST

And many like celebrity Quest Love predicted the apology, calling out all brands that are guilty of tone-deaf advertisements and pointing the pattern that has been happening for a while now.

I’m sure the apologies are a coming. And the ads will be pulled. I’m certain there will Be media fixers and whatnot and maybe a grand gesture like a donation to some charity (donations under these circumstances are the corporate version #SomeOfMyBestFriendsAre move if there ever was one) all this tells me about @HM is that the seats in the boardroom lack something...wanna take a guess?

A post shared by Questlove Gomez (@questlove) on Jan 8, 2018 at 5:42am PST

H&M has apologised for the advert and pulled it off from their site.

Said the brand in a statement, “We sincerely apologise for offending people with this image of a printed hooded top. The image has been removed from all online channels and the product will not be for sale in the United States. We believe in diversity and inclusion in all that we do and will be reviewing all our internal policies accordingly to avoid any future issues.”

Comments

khan Jan 10, 2018 05:33am

I will bycott H&M here in Australia

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Tom Billesley Jan 10, 2018 08:30pm

Racism is in the eye of the beholder. "Cheeky monkey" is a common term of endearment when addressing children. If they'd used only white child models they'd have been castigated for being "non-inclusive".