H&M is very sorry.
The clothing company says it knows it messed up big time by selling a sweatshirt online with the saying “Coolest Monkey in the Jungle,” especially when one considers the model it used to sell said item:
A young African-American.
Yes.
Someone in the marketing department (likely multiple someones in the marketing department) approved the idea of an African-American child modeling something that reads “Coolest Monkey in the Jungle.”
This actually happened.
And it was noticed by a few famous people on the Internet.
Wrote Questlove, for instance, along with a photo of the boy and his shirt:
I’m sure the apologies are a coming. And the ads will be pulled. I’m certain there will Be media fixers and whatnot and maybe a grand gesture like a donation to some charity (donations under these circumstances are the corporate version #SomeOfMyBestFriendsAre move if there ever was one).
All this tells me about @HM is that the seats in the boardroom lack something…wanna take a guess?
LeBron James, meanwhile, dunked all over the retailer.
On his Instagram page, the basketball legend replaced the controversial slogan with the photo of a crown, while also editing in a crown on the child’s head.
And he wrote in a passionate caption:
@hm u got us all wrong! And we ain’t going for it! Straight up! Enough about y’all and more of what I see when I look at this photo. I see a Young King!!
The ruler of the world, an untouchable Force that can never be denied!
We as African Americans will always have to break barriers, prove people wrong and work even harder to prove we belong but guess what, that’s what we love because the benefits at the end of the road are so beautiful!!
As for Diddy?
He went a similar route, photoshopping “Coolest King in the World” on to the shirt and writing:
Put some respect on it!! When you look at us make sure you see royalty and super natural God sent glory!! Anything else is disrespectful.
Other World Wide Web users were less generous, writing responses such as the following:
As of Monday morning, H&M had removed the ad from its website, a spokesperson confirmed CNBC, yet it continued to sell the hooded top online, just not in America.
It also said via statement:
“We sincerely apologize for offending people with this image of a printed hooded top.
“We believe in diversity and inclusion in all that we do and will be reviewing all our internal policies accordingly to avoid any future issues.”
With this terrible decision, H&M joined other retailers who were forced to apologize for various kinds of offensive attire.
Remember the Kent State sweatshirt with blood splatter, for instance?
Or that “I Drink You’re Cute” top?
Relive some of the worst clothing decisions in capitalism history below:
