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Strategy Wheel: To place the strategy of H&M as a whole with a focus on this spe- cific case of unfortunate advertisement and assess the actual situation, the Strat- egy Wheel of Hilb and Henkel (cf. Strategic move – Why was the ad a bad strategy? They seriously probably think this is cut e” (Zimmerman 2018). The head office in Sweden is very disconnected to issues of racism, cultural & social chal- lenges. A Twitter user stated: “ I worked for them for years and they’re clueless sometimes. Some Twitter users however thought of the ad as being a lack of cultural awareness and pure ignorance on the side of H&M without malicious intent. This was an additional setback since the company had already reported a de- cline in sales in December 2017 and announced the closure of stores (cf. They slid to its lowest level since April 2009. Flanagan/Tahir 2018).įurthermore, the public criticism also led to a decrease of H&M’s shares on the stock market.
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The police had to intervene to stop the violence and H&M temporarily closes all its stores in South Africa in order to ensure the safety of their employees and customers (cf. In South Africa the situation escalated when several stores of the Swedish brand got vandalized by activists and protesters. Social media outrage was however not the only consequence H&M had to face. He stated: “ I see a young King!” (kingjames 2018). NBA star LeBron James, known for speaking up about social issues, shared an altered image with the child wearing a crown. The Weeknd (Canadian pop star) an- nounced the end of his collaboration with H&M and deleted pictures showing his two H&M clothing collec- tions (cf. Soon after the incident the hashtag #BoycottHM already surfaced on Twitter and major influencers voiced their criticism and joined the protest towards the clothing giant. If look at other sweaters in same category they have white kids. Brand designer Alex Medina posted on Twitter: “In the year 2018 there’s no way brands/art directors can be this negligent and lack awareness. And how none of the individuals involved in this product cycle of a global brand was aware of the implica- tions and the obvious and objective offensiveness of this advertisement. Nevertheless, many social media users were stunned how nowadays it has been possible that such an ad was approved. The hoodie advertisement was not a motive of a worldwide campaign but only an image in an online store of the fashion giant. One can argue that the context shouldn’t be ignored in this matter. Twitter user Volkan called the advertisement dis- gusting because of its “ projection of (…) neocolonial thinking” (Volkan 2018). Comparing Black people to a ‘monkey’ implies a racist undertone because of its historical use for demeaning and dehumanizing people of African descent. So why did this advertisement of a hoodie featured by a black child model trigger such a shitstorm? The ref- erence to a monkey is historically perceived as being inappropriate because of its featuring in racial and eth- nic decrial. Furthermore, the company was criti- cised for showing a serious lack of social aware- ness and racial sensitivity (cf. Immediately, the company was faced with an outcry on social media from celebrities, journal- ists, advocates for social justice and consumers, most of them widely criticising the advertise- ment as being racist, offensive, derogatory and negligent. In the first week of January 2018, H&M UK created a worldwide controversy by advertising a green hoodie with the slogan “Coolest Monkey in the Jungle” in its online store featured by a black boy model while a white child model was presenting an orange sweatshirt saying “Mangrove Jungle – Official Survival Expert”. Scandal of the “Coolest monkey in the jungle” hoodie advertisement
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H&M’s overall strategy for growth is to expend their network of physical stores – especially in emerging markets – as well as web shops in order to enhance their customer’s seamless shopping experience through modern technology, digital innovation and social media platforms.Ībbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten It features nine clearly defined brands which ensure that H&M satisfies various customer needs and segments around the world. It’s one of the world’s leading fashion companies reaching customers across the globe with over 4’800 stores worldwide and a strong online presence. H&M is a global Swedish fashion and design apparel retailer founded in 1947. H& M Scandal: „Coolest Monkey in the Jungle“ advertisement (Bad Strategy)