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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
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newmummycwharf1 · 08/01/2018 22:05

I am black and I think it is highly unacceptable and shocked no one in the vast team involved to get this campaign to the public saw that. Not even the runner on the photo shoot! Monkey in a jungle is still a very common insult aimed at black people and this sort of image will hit a nerve with many. Obviously some may not take offense because it would be assumed it was not done with malicious intent/racist agenda (and I believe that) but a company such as h&m has a massive reach and should know better. I actually thought the picture was taken out of context abf many other kids would be shown wearing the same or similar tees but sadly brain cells were clearly not engaged. Why couldn't the t-shirts be worn the other way round?

applebags · 08/01/2018 22:05

I don't deem it as racist and it wouldn't even have occurred to me if I'd seen the ad.

Little children get called monkeys, bears etc all the time; in context it's not racist in the slightest....

However, I'm white and therefore don't have the right to an opinion on this.

IMightMentionGriddlebone · 08/01/2018 22:07

Never heard of monkey being a racist term. Here in Australia, it's what you call a cheeky/funny child. Monkeying around etc.

I think it says more about you, thinking it's racist, than it says about the shirt/child combination.

Er, yes it does say something about us. It says we have an awareness of British social history. That isn't a bad thing.

Perhaps 'monkey' does not have any racial connotations in Australia. But it most certainly does here.

Original poster
BornInSydneyy · 08/01/2018 22:07

I’m not sure why people are acting like every single person in the world is fine with this ... and I’m on my own picketing outside H&M.

OP posts:
SuperBeagle · 08/01/2018 22:08

Dipping Sorry, but I think that there is an element of bandwagoning in that, black influencers or not. As this thread has demonstrated, if you don't see it as an issue, you're accused of being racist or ignorant.

SheGotBetteDavisEyes · 08/01/2018 22:08

However, I'm white and therefore don't have the right to an opinion on this

Of course you do. Confused

MrsDoylesTeaBags · 08/01/2018 22:09

I've been called monkey and told to go back to the jungle so yes I do find it rascist and I can't believe the people who did that advert didn't give it five minutes though before putting that boy in that particular jumper.

I wonder where all the pps who have never heard monkey as a rascist insult live?

Chamonix1 · 08/01/2018 22:10

When we are truly unbigoted we won't have to think everything through, we will just treat everyone the same.

I wouldn't have noticed or thought anything if it but then again I've never been subject to racism,

In my opinion it would be just as bad not to put the child in a certain top because of the colour of his skin. He may love that top.

There has to come a time when this sort of thing doesn't cross our minds surely?

PonderWoman · 08/01/2018 22:12

That ad is outrageous! Black people are still faced with degrading insults including monkey noises etc. Why is the black kid not the survival expert and the white kid not a monkey in the jungle?

For those who see no racism, it is because this is not something you are faced with every day.

Coconutspongexo · 08/01/2018 22:13

No Super I think it might be the fact that there is a lot of links to racism.

Monkey is regularly used as a racist term for black people it’s particularly rife in football. I can completely understand why a POC would find this top offensive. I don’t think it’s bandwagoning I think it’s years of racist abuse.

Those saying it’s not racist are clearly ignoring black posters who find it racist?

OhOfCourse · 08/01/2018 22:13

"It would never have crossed my mind that the term monkey had anything to do with being black."

You are fucking shitting me. My god.

ToffeeUp · 08/01/2018 22:15

Are people really saying because children get called cheeky monkey as a term of endearment that they have never heard it being used as a racist insult towards black people and therefore cannot make the connection?

Winebottle · 08/01/2018 22:16

I think it is sad this is viewed as racist.

It is common to call white kids cheeky monkeys etc. If it was a white kid modelling, it wouldn't have been an issue. It's a shame he can't just be viewed as a child like any other.

I disagree white people cannot take a view on whether it is racist. This is the worst kind of finding offense where none was intended. Nobody is being insensitive, people are attributing meaning to it that was never there. It is like the man off balls of steel.

SuperBeagle · 08/01/2018 22:16

Those saying it’s not racist are clearly ignoring black posters who find it racist?

And there are those who have said that they are not white, or have mixed race children, who do not find it racist. So, go figure, not everyone sees it the same.

Facelikeaslappedarse · 08/01/2018 22:16

The ad is not racist but you are for seeing it as such.

Lifechallenges · 08/01/2018 22:17

I'm white (several black/mixed race friends and family however) and glanced at it and just saw a child in a hoodie with a slogan. Then it dawned on me. Bad choice of slogan and bad choice of model for the hoodie. I find it hard to believe it was intentional. Surely?
But then with a huge marketing department and PR / management expertise how on earth no one at H&M picked this up is even more beyond me.

BertrandRussell · 08/01/2018 22:18

Yes, racist.

surferjet · 08/01/2018 22:18

It’s a difficult one.
On the one hand it is racist ( albeit unintentionally ) but on the other hand are we saying black models can never model anything with a monkey on it?

By doing that we’re keeping the racist element alive & that’s wrong imo.

Coconutspongexo · 08/01/2018 22:18

*Facelikeaslappedarse

The ad is not racist but you are for seeing it as such.*

There you go black posters you’re all racist.

I’m sorry but if you have a mixed race child If you’re white you still can’t decide if something is racist or not.

PonderWoman · 08/01/2018 22:18

As for the poster who thinks australia has no monkey racism jokes, you are either blind to australia's racism issue, or deliberately disingenuous.

Anymajordude · 08/01/2018 22:19

I think so Toffee. Sad

IMightMentionGriddlebone · 08/01/2018 22:20

On the other, are we really saying that it’s ok to call a white child a little monkey but that’s not ok to say that from a black child? Is that ok to treat them differently?

In this case, treating them the same looks like the set-up to a racist joke in a music hall.

Perhaps a good analogy is accidental double-entendres. Sometimes, the context you use an innocently-meant phrase in will make it sound as if you are deliberately making a joke at someone's expense or auditioning for a Carry On film. It happens to most people at some point, and may be easily forgiven.

But when a huge multi-national does it, despite heaven knows much spending on marketing and PR, it's a bit more horrifying.

Viviennemary · 08/01/2018 22:21

Anyway they've apologised. Kids have been called cheeky monkeys for years. It was never a racist term.

SheGotBetteDavisEyes · 08/01/2018 22:21

As for the poster who thinks australia has no monkey racism jokes, you are either blind to australia's racism issue, or deliberately disingenuous

Quite. I've heard it myself in Australia - admittedly more in certain parts than others.

SheGotBetteDavisEyes · 08/01/2018 22:22

It was never a racist term

Oh right. Good evening, Viviennemary.