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Clothing retailer apologizes after featuring black child wearing shirt that said 'monkey' on front
January 08, 2018
Clothing retailer H&M apologized Monday after featuring on its United Kingdom website a young black male model wearing a sweatshirt that said "monkey" on its front.
What are the details?
The unnamed model, a young black boy, was photographed wearing a hooded sweatshirt that read, "Coolest monkey in the jungle."
Consumers took to social media after discovering the offense on the retailer's website and blasted the clothing retailer for being "racist" and more.
BOYCOTT @hm! Whose with me? @hmusa What universe do you live in that makes it okay to flaunt your racist ways in such an epic portion. I demand you remove this ad! This child is precious and should be treated as such! #boycottH&M #racists #coolestmonkeyinthejungle #notonmywatch pic.twitter.com/eY4f7nKxvi
— Alexandra Foucard (@AFoucard) January 8, 2018
Buzzfeed, who obtained the apology, reported that the chain retailer didn't intend to cause any offense over the image.
"This image has been removed from all H&M channels and we sincerely apologise for any offence this has caused," a spokesperson for the company told Buzzfeed. "It was never our intention for this image to be perceived in this way and we will be reviewing our internal routines to ensure that such a misjudgment does not happen again."
The offending photo featuring the young boy already appears to have been removed from the product page, and instead replaced with a photo of the sweatshirt on its own, without a model.
A company spokesperson confirmed to the New York Daily News that the image in question was taken down from the site.
"This image has now been removed from all H&M channels and we apologise to anyone this may have offended," the statement read.
USA Today on Monday reported that the retailer would not be selling the sweatshirt in the U.S.
"We sincerely apologize for offending people with this image of a printed hooded top," a spokesperson for the company said, according to USA Today. "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."
Anything else?
H&M in 2015 came under fire for a similar faux pas when the company's South Africa division debuted an ad campaign that was absent of black models.
The company apologized for the blunder and said, "H&M's marketing has a major impact and it is essential for us to convey a positive image.
"We want out marketing to show our fashion in an inspiring way, to convey a positive feeling." the statement concluded.
The statement was almost verbatim from other verbiage contained in what appeared to be the company's marketing manifesto.
Their apology smacked of racism to many people on social media, who took it to mean that using white models created a more positive image.
The company apologized in 2013 after coming under fire for selling headdresses in its Canada and U.K. stores: "Of course, we never want to offend anybody or come off as insensitive," a statement from a company spokesman read. "We’re always about being there for our customers."
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