H&M apologises after severe backlash over racist 'coolest monkey in the jungle' ad campaign

After receiving severe backlash on social media for their controversial ‘coolest monkey in the jungle’ advertisement featuring a black child model, clothing brand H&M has issued an apology for the same and taken the picture down from their website. [caption id=“attachment_4299631” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  The ‘coolest monkey in the jungle’ ad campaign. Image from H&M.[/caption] In an apology statement issued on Twitter, H&M wrote that they are “deeply sorry” for the picture and they “understand” and “agree” with why “people have gotten upset” over the ad campaign. “It 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,” said the H&M team

pic.twitter.com/WykuYSPxYv

— H&M (@hm) January 9, 2018

“We apologise to anyone this may have offended,” said an H&M spokesperson, according to a report by The Independent. The spokesperson also added that an internal committee is reviewing how such a big mistake was made. Due to the mass outrage over the advertisement, H&M has stated that they would pull the jumper from all of their outlets. The advertisement was branded “racist” and “unacceptable” by many, including several celebrities like The Weeknd, LeBron James and Diddy. Controversy seems to be hot on the heels of the retail giant as a few months ago H&M was embroiled in yet another incident which amounted to public flak. The clothing brand faced major setbacks from animal rights organisation People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) after a hoodie bearing the slogan ‘Dogfight in Random Alley’ was put up for purchase. PETA said that the hoodie sent out a “dangerous message” to the society. That time too, H&M retracted the sweatshirt from its stores. As per reports, H&M’s US website doesn’t have the green jumper anymore but the UK site still has it for sale.