The controversy surrounding H&M's recent campaign that showed a young black boy wearing a hoodie that read "Coolest Monkey In The Jungle" is still very much an issue for the company. Just last week a store in South Africa was vandalized as a response to the insensitive apparel.
The fashion retail giant has followed up with a number of statements on how "deeply sorry" they are saying they "agree with all the criticism that this has generated—we have got this wrong and we agree that, even if unintentional, passive or casual racism needs to be eradicated wherever it exists."
As another move in the right direction, H&M has announced that a new diversity leader has been appointed, seemingly as a way to oversee all campaign executions going forward. The company released the news on Facebook saying:
"The recent incident was entirely unintentional, but it demonstrates so clearly how big our responsibility is as a global brand. We have reached out, around the world, inside and outside H&M to get feedback. Our commitment to addressing diversity and inclusiveness is genuine, therefore we have appointed a global leader, in this area, to drive our work forward. There will be more from us soon."
The parents of the young boy who modelled the hoodie were recently interviewed where the father said he doesn't "see such a connection to anything other than my son modelling a shirt."
