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Original poster

Would you consider this racist? H&M advert

999 replies

BornInSydneyy · 08/01/2018 21:12

A young black boy wearing a jumper that says -

“Coolest monkey in the jungle”

I genuinely can’t understand how anyone thought that was acceptable.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
10
Phalenopsisgirl · 08/01/2018 23:39

Don’t let the hate win

Aeroflotgirl · 08/01/2018 23:40

Yes they are, I cally my son a cheeky little monkey. Tgey are known for being naughty, playful my goodness.

BertrandRussell · 08/01/2018 23:40

“But I don't associate calling my kids cheeky monkeys to me being a racist fuckhead because I just am not one“

You sure about that? I didn’t know I had a racist mind til about 10 minutes ago.......

StripySocksAndDocs · 08/01/2018 23:40

The act of putting that particular child into that particular top was (hopefully) unlikely to have been racist.

However it was for a advert. Adverts send out messages and there are plenty of people out there that will interpret it badly. That can use the picture to insult. Can justify subjecting other children to insult.

Slanetylor · 08/01/2018 23:40

Men can call women " little ladies" without meaning offence. That doesn't mean I don't find it offensive.

IMightMentionGriddlebone · 08/01/2018 23:41

Re-posting, because I would like an answer

This argument that thinking there are racist connotations to the ad makes you racist? I don't really get that.

Let's explore this idea with examples. So, let's imagine a hypothetical sit-com sketch of yore.

[scene: a staff break room, with a window looking out into a mature garden. The audience can see a birdfeeder with two birds hanging from it. A well-endowed woman is sitting. A young man walks into the room]

Young Man: Oh I say! What a magnificent pair of tits!

Woman: What a cheek!

[End of sketch]

Shite sketch, yeah? Based on real TV though. I remember watching it. I think we all get what the joke was, don't we? Does getting it make us sexist then?

Or just culturally aware? Personally, I think it's the latter.

FaceOddity · 08/01/2018 23:41

@Phalenopsisgirl that's the point I was trying to make earlier. It's only when we stop making the associations we hopefully allow racism to die a death.

Phalenopsisgirl · 08/01/2018 23:42

And I have experienced racism in its purest form but I won’t look for it at every opportunity. This kids was not put in that hoody out of hatred, we mustn’t make it like he was.

Bimbler · 08/01/2018 23:42

Only someone with a racist mind would even pick up on this.

So many stupid and/or disingenuous comments on this thread. The above being a prime example.

Only racist people are conscious of racism 🤔

Phalenopsisgirl · 08/01/2018 23:42

Faceoddity- you get it

FaceOddity · 08/01/2018 23:43

@BertrandRussell yup I'm positively sure because I care not for the colour of someone's skin nor where they came from. All that matters is that they are a decent human being and that's fine by me.

whosaidso · 08/01/2018 23:43

I actually seen this advert and it never occurred to me to think it was racist.
All I saw was some cute kids wearing slogan jumpers.
I think the racists here are the ones who have brought this to the public eye......

80sQueen · 08/01/2018 23:43

I'm also looking for racism at every opportunity as that's what Black people do as it benefits us, how?

yolofish · 08/01/2018 23:43

I would imagine that H&M are absolutely loving the fact that this ad is being talked about left right and centre - creating far more interest and brand awareness than simply running a few press ads with some cute kids of whatever colour. I am sure it was planned from the start (and yes I do think it is racist)

Iggi999 · 08/01/2018 23:44

Perhaps he wasn’t put in the hoodie out of hatred, but at best he was in it because of ignorance. No excuse for that really either.

FaceOddity · 08/01/2018 23:44

@Phalenopsisgirl I think if that kid didn't have a complex about the coupe of his skin then he sure as hell will now!!

Woodfordhound · 08/01/2018 23:45

Phalan, if only it were as simple as white women ignoring racism makes it go away.

As I said, I didn’t notice a problem until it was pointed out to me. All me not noticing proves it that I don’t associate the black child with the monkey slogan on his top. But as I don’t live under a stone, I’m well aware that such things are used as a racist insult and therefore when DH said, ‘read the jumper and look at the child’ I gasped.

Phalenopsisgirl · 08/01/2018 23:46

Racism to me in not the word monkey,
I’m Sorry it just isn’t. If this top was in some ‘black kids section’ then that would be something to talk about.

Bimbler · 08/01/2018 23:48

I think the racists here are the ones who have brought this to the public eye......

Your poor lonely brain cell. How I pity it l, rattling around all by itself.

Phalenopsisgirl · 08/01/2018 23:48

And when will we let monkey just be an animal? When we we let our kids ‘be ignorant’ about the use of the word historically? Because actually that’s when we really have let it die

IMightMentionGriddlebone · 08/01/2018 23:48

This kids was not put in that hoody out of hatred, we mustn’t make it like he was.

I don't think anyone on this thread has said he was put in it out of hatred. Mostly, we think it probably demonstrates breathtaking ignorance on the part of some people who are paid not to make fuck-ups like this.

But that isn't acceptable either. When a company puts a black child in a top with a slogan that is -that- close to a common phrase of racist abuse, it is negligent of them.

clumsyduck · 08/01/2018 23:48

But if you look at the Twitter comments etc there are black people who ARE offended and surely that's what matters not white people coming along saying " I don't think it's racist" or "I just don't see colour "

Glintysea · 08/01/2018 23:49

racism to me is not the word monkey - it absolutely was to the black kids at school who were called it by white kids doing crude monkey impressions.

Iggi999 · 08/01/2018 23:50

I’m going to start ignoring sexism and misogyny. That way it will all go away and i’ll be in no danger of discrimination at work or sexual assault. If only all women were as enlightened!

DuchessMinnie · 08/01/2018 23:50

I only discovered the negative connotations of using monkey to describe a child a couple of years ago. It was an incident at work and I was shocked at how offended the victim was (not into football, had never come across it before). I was naive. Once you know how offensive it is you won't see it in the same light again.