Maisy, with the negative publicity associated with that top, which parent in their right mind would want that top? A black parent is not going to touch that top, even if the reference doesn't bother them, it is crystal clear that it will bother many many others now.
As stated already, h&m didnt do this to be deliberately racist, but now they know how it has come across, they have taken the ad down. In the same vein, a parent may not previously have given this top a second thought, but now that you know the upset it has caused, why would anyone wear it out of insistence that the top itself isn't inherently racist.
It is hard to describe the offence as there is no equivalent racial slur against white people that has historically demeaning, degrading and dehumansing connotations.
White people enslaved black people and owned them as property. they held Asian and black people in zoos for white people to look at and poke and jibe. They lined them up next to animals and then posed for photos with them. They labelled us savages, monkeys, darwin's missing link. So now we have been promoted to the 'coolest' monkey in the jungle because white man has decided to put a black kid in that top. White man says we are still a monkey, still from the jungle, but hey, we are now cool. Such an honour bestowed by our white masters. Apparently, we are supposed to celebrate that because white people have no problem calling their children 'cheeky monkey'. That is NOT what the top says. The hurt runs deep.