H&M apologises over 'coolest monkey in the jungle' hoodie modelled by black boy

Do you know the boy's parents? Contact our news desk on 0203 615 2500 or news@standard.co.uk
Patrick Grafton-Green9 January 2018

High street giant H&M has apologised after an image of a black child modelling a hoodie with the slogan “coolest monkey in the jungle” appeared on its website.

Outraged social media users described the advert as “offensive”, “irresponsible” and “racist” after it was posted on the Swedish retail company’s UK website.

It is not clear how long it was on the website for but an H&M spokeswoman confirmed it has now been removed.

Blogger Stephanie Yeboah wrote: “Whose idea was it at @hm to have this little sweet black boy wear a jumper that says ‘coolest monkey in the jungle’? I mean. What.”

Selene Arianela compared the image to one of a white child modelling a hoodie emblazoned with the words “Jungle survival expert.”

She wrote: “This is inappropriate, offensive, and racist. Why is the white kid 'a jungle survivor' and the black kid the 'coolest monkey in the jungle'?

“How do you think this is okay? REMOVE this and the clothing piece. This is completely distasteful!”

New York Times columnist Charles M Blow asked: “Have you lost your damned minds?!?!?!”

Christina Watkins said: “Uh oh, @hm. Can y’all explain why a black boy was selected to model a hoodie that says, “coolest monkey in the jungle”? Someone didn’t think this through.”

Karamo Brown described the image as “disgusting & irresponsible”.

He said: “You know the history of racist using the term “monkey” to demean people of African descent... and you put this on your website!”

Others blamed lack of cultural awareness while other defended H&M, calling the advert "an innocent mistake".

Another Twitter user said: “Every company should invest in training that encompasses cultural competency and sensitivity. It is absolutely necessary.”

An H&M spokeswoman said: “This image has now been removed from all H&M channels and we apologise to anyone this may have offended.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT