The ad has been decried as racially insensitive due to the historical use of the word ‘monkey’ as a racial pejorative and has prompted celebrities, musicians and athletes to cut promotional ties with the brand. H&M learned this lesson earlier this week after they came under fire for publishing a promotional image on their UK and US websites featuring a black boy wearing a hooded jumper with the words “Coolest Monkey in the Jungle” emblazoned across the front. While brands like Unilever don’t set out to be racist, more effective systems and vigilance are clearly needed to avoid causing inadvertent offence through ignorance. Social media, along with the 24-hr news cycle, provides an ecosystem where such outrage can grow exponentially in no time. Last year we wrote about an advertisement at Unilever that prompted widespread criticism of racist messaging in how the company marketed some of its beauty products. We will assemble a task force of black leaders to help advise us on further work.Brands have always been held to account for advertising or business activities that customers perceive as perpetuating racism. We will also mobilize efforts to increase voter registration. This list is not exhaustive. Furthermore, in the US, we will develop a stronger relationship with Historically Black Colleges and Universities and increase community events that continue to empower the Black Community. We will provide our colleagues additional resources to further educate them around implicit bias.
These organizations fight for justice, economic rights and empowerment of the Black Community. H&M group pledges to donate 500,000 USD to the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Color of Change, and the ACLU. More directly, we will play our own part. Symbolic support is not enough – we will take action. We re-commit to taking tangible steps to challenge racism and support our colleagues, customers and communities.
As a company, we are growing, but we can and must do better. We also acknowledge our past mistakes and they have made us acutely aware of how much we still need to learn. Their lives, and the lives of all black people taken by violence, mattered. The recent killings of more members of the Black Community in the US leave us devastated and heartbroken. We stand with and support the Black Community – today, everyday and everywhere to end racism in all forms.
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