The mother of the young boy who was featured in a controversial advert for H&M is speaking out.
The image of a young black boy wearing a shirt which read, ‘coolest monkey on the planet,‘ struck a nerve with many in the African-America community.
While man have called for a boycott of the popular clothing chain over their racially insensitive advertising, the mom of the child featured in the photo seems to think it’s no big deal and want’s everyone to move on.
Details below…
Several Instagram blogs located the mother of the young boy who modeled the “Coolest Monkey in the Jungle” hoodie for H&M.
The mother reportedly claims that the hoodie was just one of the many outfits her son modeled for H&M and that’s everyone needs to “stop crying wolf” and “get over it” .
She also goes on to say that she was in attendance during the photoshoot when the controversial image was taken.
Despite the mother’s protest to ‘get over it’, H&M admits it’s wrongdoing and has issued what they call an ‘unequivocal apology’ via their website stating:
H&M is fully committed to playing its part in addressing society?s issues and problems, whether it?s diversity, working conditions or environmental protection ? and many others. Our standards are high and we feel that we have made real progress over the years in playing our part in promoting diversity and inclusion. But we clearly haven?t come far enough.
We agree with all the criticism that this has generated ? we have got this wrong and we agree that, even if unintentional, passive or casual racism needs to be eradicated wherever it exists.?We appreciate the support of those who have seen that our product and promotion were not intended to cause offence but, as a global brand, we have a responsibility to be aware of and attuned to all racial and cultural sensitivities ? and we have not lived up to this responsibility this time.
This incident is accidental in nature, but this doesn?t mean we don?t take it extremely seriously or understand the upset and discomfort it has caused.
We have taken down the image and we have removed the garment in question from sale. It will be recycled.
We will now be doing everything we possibly can to prevent this from happening again in future.
Racism and bias in any shape or form, conscious or unconscious,?deliberate or accidental,?are simply unacceptable and need to be eradicated from society. In this instance we have not been sensitive enough to this agenda.
Please accept our humble apologies.