This ad with an image of a young black child wearing a hoodie saying “Coolest Monkey In The Jungle” first appeared over the weekend on the British version of the website of Swedish-based retailer ‘H&M’, and was removed by Monday morning, creating instant infuriated backlash by the public and high profile celebrities such as Lebron James and Diddy. Lebron went on Twitter and posted his own revised version of the ad;
It absolutely beggers belief that not only this ad, but the message on the shirt could go through layer after layer of design and production, and no-one pointed out that this was hideously offensive? An H&M spokesman put out the typical statement,
“We sincerely apologize for offending people with this image of a printed hooded top. 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."
Not buying it. To me this is just another example of how mainstream and “comfortable” people in power, and even corporations and governments have become with blatant racism. It’s now a much sicker, sadder world than I ever imagined I’d live long enough to see.
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