H&M Blasted For 'Coolest Monkey' Ad Featuring Black Child

NEW YORK, NY — Clothing company H&M has apologized for an advertisement on their website that shows a black child wearing a sweatshirt with the phrase “coolest monkey in the jungle” written on it. The advertisement prompted a backlash online, including from New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow. “Have you lost your damned minds?!?!?!” Blow asked on Twitter on Sunday.

R&B star The Weeknd also announced on Twitter Monday that he would end his affiliation with H&M over the ad. "woke up this morning shocked and embarrassed by this photo. i’m deeply offended and will not be working with @hm anymore..." he wrote.

The advertisement was posted to H&M’s United Kingdom website and began to receive scrutiny over the weekend. U.K.-based Models of Diversity, a group that advocates for diversity in the fashion industry, was among the critical voices.

“@hm And then H&M UK got the bright idea to feature a black boy model with 'Coolest Monkey in the Jungle' hoodie on its website. How on earth can this be? SHAME ON YOU !” they tweeted.

In a statement to Patch, Models of Diversity said: "We were shocked to see the image. This to us highlights the magnitude of racism in the fashion industry, one of the main issues Models of Diversity fights against each and every day." They added: "We would have to question who on earth approved this? and what was their thought process?"

. @hm, have you lost your damned minds?!?!?! pic.twitter.com/EYuCXLZtv3
— Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) January 8, 2018

In a statement, H&M said they have removed the advertisement and also pulled the sweatshirt from their stores and online sales. "We have not only removed the image from our channels, but also the garment from our product offering globally," they said, adding: "It is obvious that our routines have not been followed properly. This is without any doubt. We will thoroughly investigate why this happened to prevent this type of mistake from happening again."

But even their apology came under scrutiny. Online magazine the Root, a publication that covers black culture, published a story on Monday that calls the apology “lame.”

“How did a photo with such blatant racial overtones make it onto the site to begin with?” author Anne Branigin asked in the story.

Branigin noted that several Twitter users pointed to a lack of diversity in the company to account for the ad.

“I worked for them for years and they’re clueless sometimes. The head office in Sweden is very disconnected to issues of racism, cultural & social challenges. They seriously probably think this is cute,” Hasani Reyes wrote on Twitter.

“Cultural disconnect vs. ill intent. Swedish company, probably not a lot of diversity, racial or cultural, in places of decision making,” another Twitter user wrote.

Branigin concluded in her story: “It’s exhausting enough when advertisements exhibit racism toward black people and people of color in the usual ways—be it through erasure, colorism, or playing to tired stereotypes. Is it really that tall an order that a term with a long, international and very public racial history not be slapped on a black child in 2018?”

Photo credit: Remy Steiner/Getty