H&M Does Something Stupid And Apologizes

The clothing company H&M is getting a metric shit ton of heat from the internet for posting this a with young Black child wearing a sweater that says “Coolest monkey in the jungle.” If you have to ask yourself why this is a problem you need to add more colors to your friend palette. H&M was using this ad online and after people reminded them how fucked up it was they released a statement saying “The image has been removed from all online channels and the product will not be for sale in the United States. 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.” Yeah. Elsewhere you can likely buy it. Just not in the U.S. Because racist.

I also don't really buy the apology. Someone had to know what was going on and just sat back and thought “Let's see what happens.” Lots of people these days do the same kinda shit. They say or do something outlandish, get popular from the backlash, and chill until someone does something even dumber. Questlove of The Roots (who of the what someone that needs to find better music to listen to just aske) said it best with “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 H&M is that the seats in the boardroom lack something. Wanna take a guess?”

Musician who I don't think I've ever heard speak The Weeknd has stopped working with H&M after this. “ Woke up this morning shocked and embarrassed by this photo. I'm deeply offended and will not be working with H&M anymore.” He'd just started working with them just last year. H&M is a Swedish company so you can say “Maybe they didn't know.” Yeah, you could say that. And I could say “For sure have someone in the country where you are selling your shit be involved in ad campaigns!

It is getting harder to blame ignorance for offensive or stupid shit anymore. Way harder. Back when I was growing up and the internet did not exist you'd ask the nearest person that was older than you for the answer to a question, get a 35% correct response, and spread that to your kids. Now you just click some buttons and find out whatever you want. Know what the weather in Botswana is right now? Today they will have a high of 97 and it is currently midnight and 72 degrees. Why in the fuck am I able to find that out?! Because the internet. So I don't wanna hear “Maybe they didn't know” as a defense anymore for a large company. Oh. And why did this kids parents let this happen?!