H&M apologises for image of black child wearing ‘monkey’ top

Wombatman

Clothing retailer H&M apologized on Monday for an image appearing in its online store that showed a black child model wearing a hooded sweatshirt that said “coolest monkey in the jungle.”

Vladimir Poontang

He mustn't be the coolest then. False advertising.

BillyBobBS

Anyone who thinks that is racist is an unbelievable clown. Worlds gone PC mad.

namloc1980

The perpetually offended are all over this on twitter.

topper75

I've no problem whatsoever with this kids' clothing ad.

I've a problem with the people who might have a problem with it though.

Skerries

no need to get all high and mighty about it

satguy

Racist = No ,, Dumb Move = Yes .

vicwatson

This is ridiculous ffs, who cares what colour the child’s skin is. This world is ****ed

hairyslug

£7.99 for a jumper isn't bad.

Also, can't see how it's racist.

topper75

P

topper75 wrote: »

I've no problem whatsoever with this kids' clothing ad.

I've a problem with the people who might have a problem with it though.

I love how the permanently offeneded go around looking at everything for rasicm, sexism etc to 'score points' in the victim olympics

o1s1n

Isn't viewing this as racist kind of racist in itself?

Surely if we're all equal then a child of any race can wear any H&M hoody?

namloc1980

I would contend that the people who are outraged over this actually have the obsession over skin colour. They see a black kid and automatically assume there's a racist motive here.

Pac1Man

Are the people complaining suggesting this jumper should only be worn by white children?

c68zapdsm5i1ru

I don't think it was intentionally racist. It was a really stupid thing to do, though. Surely they should have realised how it would be interpreted by some people.

suicide_circus

Is there an equivalent with a white kid in a hoodie saying "Crispest cracker on the cheeseboard"?

King George VI

BillyBobBS wrote: »

Anyone who thinks that is racist is an unbelievable clown. Worlds gone PC mad.

Hang on. "Monkey" is a very common slur against a black person.

Just like if a Chinese child was wearing a hoodie with the word "slant" on it, people would make the connection between that and a common racist slur and talk about it, despite the company not meaning it in a racist way.

And obviously a lot of people think of racism when they see an image of a black person in tandem with the word monkey, otherwise nobody would have reported it and this image wouldn't have been shared around for the past few days before it made the news. It's not very nice but that's the way it is.

So don't call people clowns for making that connection, call H&M clowns for having retarded designers.

BillyBobBS

BillyBobBS wrote: »

Anyone who thinks that is racist is an unbelievable clown. Worlds gone PC mad.

No it isn't. Unfortunately there is wide spread use of the term "Monkey" to abuse black people, in particular footballers. So whilst this may not have been racist in itself, it was incredibly stupid and insensitive by H&M

https://www.bet.com/news/sports/2017/02/21/racist--monkey--chants-leave-soccer-player-in-tears.html

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/05/sport/football/diop-monkey-chants-racism-football-atletico-madrid/index.html

https://thinkprogress.org/fan-yells-monkey-noises-at-black-soccer-player-but-only-the-player-gets-kicked-out-64fcd35957a/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/england/2391547/Night-of-shame-stuns-England.html

suicide_circus

Pac1Man wrote: »

Are the people complaining suggesting this jumper should only be worn by white children?

Pretty much, yes. Stupid? Yes. Hypocritical? Yes. More racist than the ad itself? Yes.

o1s1n

King George VI wrote: »

Hang on. "Monkey" is a very common slur against a black person.

Just like if a Chinese child was wearing a hoodie with the word "slant" on it, people would make the connection between that and a common racist slur and talk about it, despite the company not meaning it in a racist way.

And obviously a lot of people think of racism when they see an image of a black person in tandem with the word monkey, otherwise nobody would have reported it and this image wouldn't have been shared around for the past few days before it made the news. It's not very nice but that's the way it is.

So don't call people clowns for making that connection, call H&M clowns for having retarded designers.

Please tell me you get the irony in the fact that, for people to consider this racist, (and therefore become 'offended') they would have to make a connection between the person's skin colour and the word 'monkey'.

vicwatson

Sometimes children get called “little monkeys” as they carry on that way, no one ever died ffs, skin colour irrelevant unless you’re racist

me_irl

King George VI wrote: »

Just like if a Chinese child was wearing a hoodie with the word "slant" on it.

You lost me here... I wouldn't think that at all!

It's PC gone mad so it is.

Wheety

If it was a white kid there would be no outrage. So who's the racist now Father? Should we all be racists?

me_irl

Wheety wrote: »

If it was a white kid there would be no outrage. So who's the racist now Father? Should we all be racists?

I'd be outraged that they implied I was a neanderthal!




(not even sure I need to point out that this is sarcasm)

lalababa

What's racist about it? Is it potraying a negative stereotype? Do racists think all black people are the coolest monkeys in the jungle?
If a kid of another colour was modeling would it be seen as cultural appropriation to a racist?
The people complaining 'bout this are very much the ones with a colour problem.

seamus

o1s1n wrote: »

Please tell me you get the irony in the fact that, for people to consider this racist, (and therefore become 'offended') they would have to make a connection between the person's skin colour and the word 'monkey'.

You don't have to be racist to understand that some words have a racist context or use, and to understand that some people may find it offensive.

For example, the word "sambo" is common Irish parlance for a bitta cheese and ham between two slices of Brennan's. In other countries it's a derogatory term for a black person.

If I was to create an advertisement that used the word "sambo" in the United States, someone would probably spot the potential offence there. That doesn't make them racist.

This was probably how it was missed in the first place - someone wasn't aware of the potential offence that might result (the slogan/jumper might even be a photoshop than an actual photoshoot) and so it was missed when it went live.

Anyone actually getting worked up about it though needs to get a bit of cop on. It's a mistake, easy to make. It's been removed, problem solved.

Wombatman

King George VI wrote: »

Hang on. "Monkey" is a very common slur against a black person.

Just like if a Chinese child was wearing a hoodie with the word "slant" on it, people would make the connection between that and a common racist slur and talk about it, despite the company not meaning it in a racist way.

And obviously a lot of people think of racism when they see an image of a black person in tandem with the word monkey, otherwise nobody would have reported it and this image wouldn't have been shared around for the past few days before it made the news. It's not very nice but that's the way it is.

So don't call people clowns for making that connection, call H&M clowns for having retarded designers.

Monkeys, clowns, slants and retards. :rolleyes:

B.A._Baracus

BillyBobBS wrote: »

Anyone who thinks that is racist is an unbelievable clown. Worlds gone PC mad.

Agree.
It's funny tho, only a short time ago (maybe 2 - 3 years ago) you couldn't say pc gone mad on here. Everyone would get back saying how is it cause you can't say the n word? (sarcastically) and of course posting that Stewart Lee clip likes it's the Gospel.

Yet here we are. it's gone mental :pac:

LirW

There are a few old slangwords in German for certain sweets (they'd usually contain chocolate) with the word N1gger in it. Most of them are not used anymore, there is one though that is still ever present.
Same thing really.

When you think, H&M is a billion dollar company and they can't manage to hire designers or marketing teams that wouldn't overlook such a thing? It probably wasn't meant to be racist but ffs, this such an incredibly stupid mistake, that shouldn't happen to such a big prestigious company.
Especially in America "monkey" is still a very common slur for black people, I'm sorry but that's widely known.

_Roz_

Poor marketing strategy but not racist or offence-worthy.

sbsquarepants

What about a Chinese with a picture of a medieval knight saying there's a chink in this armour?

Nah, probably be called a racist:D

Wombatman

sbsquarepants wrote: »

What about a Chinese with a picture of a medieval knight saying there's a chink in this armour?

Nah, probably be called a racist:D

Jeremy Lin headline slur was ‘honest mistake,’ fired ESPN editor Anthony Federico claims.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/jeremy-lin-slur-honest-mistake-fired-espn-editor-anthony-federico-claims-article-1.1025566

jackofalltrades

King George VI wrote: »

So don't call people clowns for making that connection, call H&M clowns for having retarded designers.

Admonishes a company for unwittingly using a word that people find offensive, by using a word that people find offensive.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

namloc1980 wrote: »

The perpetually offended are all over this on twitter.

I'm guessing 99.something% of them are white.

The_Kew_Tour

who in earth's name thought that was good idea

cantdecide

o1s1n wrote: »

Isn't viewing this as racist kind of racist in itself?

Surely if we're all equal then a child of any race can wear any H&M hoody?

To some, we are simply collections of hierarchical traits that produce a privilege to victimhood spectrum ranking which conveniently informs others of the legitimacy of our words depending on the context of any given conversation.

It's a very efficient yet dynamic system.

forgodssake

These offended people need a right good kick up the hole

forgodssake

These offended people need a right good kick up the hole

forgodssake

These offended people need a right good kick up the hole

valoren

Fair enough call it out as being poor taste but to actually get offended by that is where we are at these days.

daveyeh

King George VI wrote: »

So don't call people clowns for making that connection, call H&M clowns for having retarded designers.

OFFENSIVE

King George VI

jackofalltrades wrote: »

Admonishes a company for unwittingly using a word that people find offensive, by using a word that people find offensive.

Jack I couldn't care what people find offensive. I'm just saying H&M are idiots for not realizing that they'd get a backlash from this.

Or on the other hand they are clever bastards for getting a lot of people talking about their store lol

major bill

King George VI wrote: »

Hang on. "Monkey" is a very common slur against a black person.

Just like if a Chinese child was wearing a hoodie with the word "slant" on it, people would make the connection between that and a common racist slur and talk about it, despite the company not meaning it in a racist way.

And obviously a lot of people think of racism when they see an image of a black person in tandem with the word monkey, otherwise nobody would have reported it and this image wouldn't have been shared around for the past few days before it made the news. It's not very nice but that's the way it is.

So don't call people clowns for making that connection, call H&M clowns for having retarded designers.

Doubt they would sell many ''Coolest Slant in the Jungle'' T-shirts though

irishman86

LeBron James and P Diddys posts about it are beyond arrogant. We should view black people are royalty just because they are black and anything less is disrespectful. How do they not see how racist that is

qwerty ui op

I can't decide if I'm offended or not just pleased to know what kinda thing people are on about when they say PC culture

LadyMacBeth_

Like others have said on this thread, it says more about the people who have gotten offended, since they are the ones who made the connection between black people and monkeys. Having said that though, probably not the smartest marketing decision ever.

TallGlass

forgodssake wrote: »

These offended people need a right good kick up the hole

forgodssake wrote: »

These offended people need a right good kick up the hole

forgodssake wrote: »

These offended people need a right good kick up the hole

Spit it out man :pac:

major bill

LadyMacBeth_ wrote: »

Like others have said on this thread, it says more about the people who have gotten offended, since they are the ones who made the connection between black people and monkeys. Having said that though, probably not the smartest marketing decision ever.

Morgan Freeman once said, to get rid of racism is to stop talking about it. The people that are getting offended over this are part of the problem, that said I do agree this was a silly idea that some naive person must of thought up.

vicwatson

I think it’s sexist, why is this not on a girl, boo h&m :rolleyes:

MonkieSocks

A Day At The Racist

Mr. CooL ICE

He even looks a bit like the "das wacist" kid and all

Hector Savage

Also some Canadian rapper was "Deeply offended" by this, the same guy has nigga this and nigga nigga that in his lyrics ... I mean it boggles the mind.