H&M was under fire last year after featuring an image of a young African American boy wearing a sweatshirt that read ‘Coolest Monkey in the Jungle.’ After issuing an apology and even bringing a diversity officer on board in response to the backlash that ensued then, one would think the fashion retailer would exercise a bit more wisdom, caution, and cultural sensitivity when launching campaigns featuring people of color.
We thought wrong.
Currently embroiled in yet another controversy, this time for featuring an ad with a young African American girl with a hairstyle critics are deeming as inappropriate as it is “messy” and “unkempt” (compared to the other children in the same ad campaign), last week saw H&M slammed on social media by commenters who believed the representation was intentional. The retail giant only made matters worse when it took to Twitter to defend the image (seen above).
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