Clothing retailer H&M are under the crosshairs of the public after they ran an ad campaign featuring a black boy in a shirt which can only be described as racist.
The boy is clothed in a hoodie with the inscription ‘coolest monkey in the jungle’ written on it.
Needless to say, getting a black child to model a clothing with ‘monkey’ written on it is the stupidest thing any company can do and H&M is predictably receiving huge backlash for their decision.
The company has responded by pulling down that ad and apologizing, writing they ‘got it wrong’.
“We’d like to put on record our position in relation to the controversial image of our hoodie. Our position is simple – we’ve got this wrong and we’re deeply sorry.” the company said in a statement posted on twitter.
https://twitter.com/hm/status/950816251475087360
Many Black celebrities have responded to the incident with outrage, with Weeknd even severing his commercial ties with the company for their insensitivity.
woke up this morning shocked and embarrassed by this photo. i’m deeply offended and will not be working with @hm anymore… pic.twitter.com/P3023iYzAb
— The Weeknd (@theweeknd) January 8, 2018