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H&M Under Fire for Racist Advertising
Retailer H&M has recently been under fire for a sweatshirt with the saying "Coolest Monkey in the Jungle," being modeled by a young black boy. Critics say that this ad was "tone deaf and filled with racist undertones." H&M released a statement acknowledging people's concerns and they "are deeply sorry that the picture was taken, and... regret the actual print." They continued to remove the image from their channels and discontinue the product. The Weeknd was one of the many people who was disappointed in this advertisement and on Monday, January 8th, he tweeted "I’m deeply offended and will not be working with @hm anymore . . . ”.
H&M, however, is not the first company to create an ad that ends up under fire for controversy. Late last year Dove received backlash after creating a video where a black woman removes her shirt to reveal a white woman. Retail strategist Wendy Liebmann says that, "incidents such as these used to blow over more quickly, but not in today’s digital age."
Questions:
1. What is your opinion on this whole situation?
2. With such big marketing teams, how do you think this advertisement was approved?
3. How could situations such as this be avoided in the future?
Links:
CBS
The Washington Post
5 comments:
This is an example of something not being racist unless you think it's racist. If a white kid modeled this hoodie, no one would even care, but because the kid is black, everyone loses their minds. Let people who want to wear the hoodie wear the hoodie rather than focusing on the color of their skin. Racism is a serious issue, but people should be outraged over things that actually matter, rather than an advertisement that just happened to have a black kid.
The real issue here is how they determined who the coolest monkey in the jungle is. Did they even interview all the monkeys? What jungle are they even talking about? I say we nominate our favorite monkey and vote on the coolest one. /s
Although it is unlikely that this was H&M’s intention, I can see how the combination of the model’s race and the print on the sweatshirt can come across as insensitive. The comparison of black people to animals (especially monkeys) coincides with the long history of racism in the United States, which I believe is important for companies such as H&M to keep in mind. I agree with Josh that this wouldn’t be a problem if the model were white. However, it is the clothing paired with a black model that leads to unfortunate implications. Lastly, even though this situation is minor in the grand scheme of racist behavior in American society, I don’t believe that should amount to ignoring/accepting this situation altogether.
Exactly, if the white kid was wearing the hoodie no one would care because there was never a racist and degrading culture that stemmed around the primitivization and dehumanization of the white race. Throughout US history a stigma was developed, and blacks were labeled as “lesser,” as they were frequently associated with belittling terms that stripped them of their human qualities. Look at the book Beloved, for instance, in order to understand the traumatizing affect slavery had on the black race. For those who have read it, the Mister scene clearly depicts the dehumanization of blacks, to the point where slaves felt less free than domesticated animals. Of Course slavery is long gone, but that system created a racist culture that continues to polarize the nation. It has been so ingrained that some of us don’t even realize we are being insensitive or ignorant, which is why setting a strict standard on society is the most pervasive method of confronting racism in America. An interesting point the book offers is what happens if blacks and society as a whole don’t fight oppression and stereotyping. If the black society doesn’t speak out against unintentional, intentional, or subtle racist messages displayed by corporations or illustrious figures, does that make them compliant? Publically protesting and civil disobedience is single handedly the most effective method that citizen hold in order to speak up and out against injustices, big or small. Either way it sets a standard and a tone for intolerance, allowing society to improve and shy away from a racist mentality. I think the marketing companies may have had a mentality of trying to be inclusive, diverse, and “socially accepting ” without realizing that actual undertones of their campaign. Same thing with Pepsi; they tried to appear “woke” but completely ignored the actual message of their ad. If people hadn’t pointed it out, it would be commonly accepted in society and that is degrading to political activists and protesters, which is why people should voice their intolerance towards racist statements and symbols.
I think that this was just a lot of stupidity on H&M's marketing part. It is very well known that 'monkey' is and has been used as a derogatory term for black people for centuries, and they somehow managed to completely overlook it when making this ad campaign. Even though I agree that if the white kid had been wearing it, there would be no commotion from the media, H&M messed this up to the point of no return. Literally, the first thing I did when I saw this ad was put my hand to my face and sigh. I honestly have no idea how this could slip through a marketing team. Maybe it's because H&M is Swedish and they don't have many black people working for them? Just an idea. But come on, we can do better.
I agree that if the model was white, the image would not even be given a second look; however, H&M should have been more aware of the long history of the racist associations of monkey's to African Americans. I feel since the internet and social media has become more prevalent, issues like these are raised and discussed more often and the whole atmosphere of the country and the world has been more negative as the internet has been used to attack people, companies, etc. an innumerable amount of times. On one hand I think this is great because people are able to speak their opinion and receive exposure for issues they find important. But on the other hand, as I mentioned earlier, the whole mentality of our country has been so hateful and accusatory. Yes, H&M made a mistake, yes they need to apologize and become more aware, but unfortunately these things happen and no one should be penalized for an honest mistake.
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