CLOTHING giant H&M has been accused of racism over an advert showing a young black child modelling a hoodie bearing the words: "Coolest monkey in the jungle."
The advert shows the model, aged around eight, wearing a green hoodie carrying the controversial slogan.
Style blogger Stephanie Yeboah shared the advert on Twitter, writing: "Whose idea was it @hm to have this little sweet black boy wear a jumper that says 'coolest monkey in the jungle'?
"I mean. What."
"I'm f***ing disgusted," she adds. "Like…what was the thought process behind this @hm ???"
The post was retweeted nearly 14,000 times within a day of being shared on January 7.
But many people disagreed with the accusations.
George wrote on Twitter: "That obviously isn't meant to be racist. It's only offensive if you choose for it to be, which you have."
And Twitter user Kwame said it was "just modelling" and "done with no harming intention".
However, Ms Yeboah adds: "As somebody who has been called a monkey many times by white people (both to my face and online), this is absolutely unacceptable.
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"Ignorance is not an excuse anymore, it's 2018."
H&M have since removed the image and apologised for any offence caused.
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The row is the latest in a string of racism rows hitting big brands.
In October, Dove was criticised after model Munroe Bergdorf hit out at an advert appearing to show a black woman remove her brown T-shirt to become a white woman in a light beige top.
A H&M spokeswoman said today: “This image has now been removed from all H&M channels and we apologise to anyone this may have offended.”
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