youtube coolest monkey in the jungle h and m ad

Though the problem was ‘resolved,’ and African Americans now have equal rights to white Americans, the issue is still a topic of concern in the nation leaving many unresolved worries to both races. Through the following years, the subject climaxed into larger matters that brought about slavery and wars between the two ethnicities. This insinuation largely ties back to the colonial history of America where white Americans were given legal and social privileges that other races and minorities were not, particulate, the African American society. The ad insinuates racial ideology with the idea of racial connotations by labeling the black child as the monkey and the white as a survivor. Here, ideology can be viewed in terms of racism which refers to the ideas and beliefs that people use skin color as the definition of the person. Ideology means to a systematic body of conceptions, specifically those of a certain social group or political party ().

Nonetheless, before making such a degrading assumption about a brand one needs to analyze and understand the ideology and context of the ad.

In the end, H&M has been deemed as a racist brand for their lack of awareness on the issues that the ad brought. In fact, the company lost big named brand ambassadors such as pop culture singer and song writer Abel or better known as The Weeknd (). All while leaving a statement to SBS News stating, “This image has now been removed from all H&M channels and we apologise to anyone this may have offended.” Nevertheless, as the ad may have been removed from social sights, the company still received repercussions for much time after. After receiving much criticism, H&M removed the ad from its online collection and pulled the hoodie from its stores worldwide ().

Disgusted and mortified, social media users torched H&M for being neglectful for using an African American boy to model a hoodie with such a deplorable slogan and asked for the ad to be removed. The ad included an African American boy wearing a green hoodie with the words “coolest monkey in the jungle” alongside a Caucasian boy with an orange hoodie with the words “mangrove jungle, survival expert” (Figure 1). Ringing in the New Year, on January 8, 2018, the fast-fashion retail company, H&M, began advertising their Spring 2018 wear online, however, one particular ad received much back lash from its social media users.

Youtube coolest monkey in the jungle h and m ad