BUSINESS REPORT: H&M brand facing backlash for monkey hoodie and initial ‘non-apology’

I for one won’t be doing any kid-shopping at H&M anytime soon, this is after the store marketed a hoodie with the words “coolest monkey in the jungle” featuring a black boy.

After facing major backlash, H&M came out with the standard “non-apology”: “This image has now been removed from all H&M channels and we apologize to anyone this may have offended.”

“May have offended”? That statement immediately tells the world H&M didn’t really get it and only a barrage of negative publicity and push back by commentators and high-profile personalities forced them to issue it.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

One of the stars that spoke out against the photo included Canadian rock star The Weeknd, who tweeted he was “shocked and embarrassed” as well as “deeply offended,” adding that he would no longer be working with the brand.

But only until all that deserved publicity mounted did the company issue a real apology, which I think came too little too late.