The Weeknd Announces He's Cutting Ties With H&M After Racist Ad

The H&M brand apologized for an advertisement on the line that showed a child modeling a sweatshirt that read “Coolest monkey in the jungle”.

The image that was posted on their website and caused a major uproar on social media. Critics said it was deaf and full of racist nuances.

H&M removed the image and released an apology

“We understand that many people are upset with the image. We, who work at H&M, can only agree. We deeply regret that the photograph has been taken, and we also regret the real impression. H&M proceeded to explain they removed the image from the page and will also withdraw the product worldwide.

“It is obvious that our routines have not been followed correctly. This is without a doubt. We will investigate thoroughly why this happened to prevent this type of error from happening again.”

People flooded with their Twitter comments. Noting that other sweatshirts from the same line had other messages like “expert survival” modeled by white children.
“So the black kid can wear the H&M sweater with the coolest monkey in the jungle ” and the white boy with” survival expert. “This is more than unpleasant. It’s a projection of his neocolonial thinking your stores these days, offered” a poster.

The Weeknd cuts ties with the Swedish brand

On Monday, The Weeknd revealed that he will no longer work with H & M after this announcement.

woke up this morning shocked and embarrassed by this photo. i’m deeply offended and will not be working with @hm anymore… pic.twitter.com/P3023iYzAb

— The Weeknd (@theweeknd) January 8, 2018

The Swedish low-cost fashion brand added that it would “continue the discussion” with The Weeknd and his team.

The New York Times columnist, Charles Blow, also reacted to this news, asking them through Twitter to the H&M brand “have you lost your damn minds?”

I think we need new marketing team

To help us capture this, retail strategist Wendy Liebmann said that companies, especially in the retail industry, are aware of how consumers perceive their products. “Sometimes this happens: a global company is not sensitive to another culture, to another political congress,” said Liebmann. “This is something relevant around the world. So, not being sensitive to that is a daily problem. It’s not just the time in which we live. This is an awareness that we should all have at any time, not only in these intense times. “
She also explained that incidents like this used to explode much slower, but not in the current digital age. “We are much more sensitive and much more open to express ourselves” and culminated with H&M addressing the problem and being sensitive to its other collections.
These “misunderstandings” have emerged over the years, with equally recognized brands such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Urban Outfitters, and Zara.

You have to be careful with what is published on the networks because it goes viral in seconds.If something can be taken with a double meaning, we would have to think a little more before publishing it. Without a doubt, it can create a big scandal. Just like this one and like the one that presented the international Dove care brand. He faced a similar reaction last year after publishing a body wash advertising video. Showing a woman of color taking off her shirt to see a white woman.

“We deeply regret that the photo was taken,” said H & M.

Hopefully, this does not happen again, as of course, the public is a very sensitive receiver in this cases.