Re H&M's inventory issues, I hope they will donate as much of this unsold clothing as they can, as opposed to deliberately destroying it.
The refugee issues in Europe are enormous.
https://goo.gl/YPCXWx
1
It is the responsibility for those of us who create (who are designers) to be aware of the symbols we put out in the world. As they are to consumed by the masses, the content be appropriate for the masses. This is a part of the job for those who create, just like a dentist knows what she is doing when she starts working on your mouth. It goes with the job.
That said, we all have these racist ideas hard-baked in to our DNA, unfortunately. Its sad but on some level the racist communications are racist by design. Just as we have designed this world exactly how we want it to be, one choice at a time. The clothes are a manifestation of ideas, and they are on some level (unconsciously, sub-consciously, or consciously) intentional.
3
It lies somewhere between 'tone-deaf,' 'dog whistle' & 'beyond the pale' ... every individual's freedom to determine when/if to draw the line on what's accidental, what's intentional and what really matters. Nobody else's business. If you agree with an advertiser's stance, support it. If you don't, exercise your choice to shop somewhere else. Common sense ultimately prevails, regardless of 'political correctness.'
1
While shopping for clothing for a 2-month old African-American boy (I'm white), I found an adorable footed onesie with a cartoon face of a monkey on the chest and tiny monkey heads on the feet. It was so cute, of high quality and perfect for an infant boy. But I stood in the aisle looking at it, thinking, wondering if the infant's mother--who I didn't know well--would find the gift racist. This is what we've become--overthinking a onesie for a 2-month old lest we offend.
6
Shalby, you were right to think twice. What's so wrong about being concerned that automatic reactions might offend someone? It's about time we started thinking hard about whether our social norms might be offensive.
9
More garbage from the outrage entrepreneurs. We have the thought police and the fashion police getting together for a hootenanny. Get over yourselves! Cultural sensitivity has run amok. Don't people have something better to do than worry about this nonsense.
6
Oh please, Linda. Do you honestly believe the phrase "coolest monkey in the jungle" is inoffensive?
5
But is it racist in the first place? That narrative needs to be examined first before being accepted. You're talking like they found a black kid specifically for that shirt. More likely they just have models put on shirt after shirt for the photos. Any kid can be a "monkey" in the playful sense, which is certainly the slogan's intention.
In other words there's a type of unwarranted fragility here on the part of the offended, and it should not be allowed to pass uncriticized.
8
Not long ago we lost Kenneth Haigh; he had a hilarious bit in "A Hard Day's Night" as an idiot marketing exec trying to get George Harrison to endorse some garbage for the youth market, glibly spouting slang he doesn't understand.
Clearly a type drawn from life, and still with us.
1
The Heineken commercial — you have to be looking to be offended if you find that racist.
We are losing our minds. And none of this insane obsession with racism will help any oppressed member of society. But it will tear society apart.
9
After reading this article and most commentaries, I have a compelling urge to sue the University of Notre Dame for it's "Fighting Irish" motto and the use of the little Irish man in a fighting stance. Enough!
6
Instead of hiring “experts” to find potentially offensive slogans on clothing, why not hire a more diverse staff? Anyone could have easily picked out the listed offenses here, if the staff had been chosen wisely
3
How about stop how about if they stop making hoodies? They look terrible, serve no purpose really.
2
SO not the point.
3
This story is a good argument for hiring marketers with a grounding in the liberal arts. If you've studied history, literature, humanities and social science, and have also immersed yourself in other cultures, you are less prone to make such mistakes. "...lighter is better"? Good grief, how tone deaf can you be?
3
I wish the need to express one’s views via t-shirt were over. Team t-shirts are okay but endlessly parading slogans is over the top; however, I do think contestant screaming over cultural appropriation is also over the top. If someone appropriates your culture it’s a compliment!
5
Katherine, if someone appropriates your minority culture, it may be a compliment, but it’s also cashing in on something one has no right to claim. Elvis is an example of someone who made money on black culture when a black person wasn’t a popularly acceptable artist representing his/her own cultural heritage.
1
Music, science, and every other phenomenon in our world depends on appropriation. The discovery of scientific breakthroughs depends on discoveries of the past. So does music, literature, psychology, food, and other important facets of our lives. How far back do you want to take this apppropriations thing? How about the food we grow? How about heirloom plants? Are we appropriating past cultures by planting those seeds? My mother was foreign born. I get excited when I find something from her culture available here, even if it has been adapted.
5
Anglican, isn't the thought that musical ideas have a racial identity, so that people of other races have "no right to claim" them, itself racist? If Elvis liked those chord progressions, tunes, and lyrics, why did he have no right to sing them? Should we also say that Leontyne Price, Martina Arroyo, and Kathleen Battle had no right to sing Verdi, or that Jessye Norman had no right to sing the role of Sieglinde?
To see an artist merely as a representative of a group of people who have the same color skin as them is limiting and reductive and, arguably, racist.
3
The new diversity manager “didn’t recognize that in this now new age of transparency what the brand stands for is super important to people" or, incomprehensibly, doesn't understand that branding was always important and racist images and slogans always offensive? The existence of social media doesn't change what is important to the public; it's just an effective tool to call out bad actors. It's going to take a lot more for all of these retailers to design smart, socially responsible products than a team of four led by someone who either has absolutely no experience in "global diversity and inclusiveness" (one would assume that as a company insider she had opportunities to raise concerns about offensive designs) or who brings experience (and not because she is Asian-American and "was born in Taiwan, grew up in New York and speaks Mandarin") but still has so much to learn.
9
She's a lawyer and probably rarely saw any one of the 22,000 designs and products produced by H&M. It seems like no one saw all of it either.
2
When I look at these products - or at that beer commercial - all I can think of is: “How dumb can you be?” While I agree that these companies should make strong efforts to diversify their workforces, to me that’s a separate question entirely - one that should be every company’s goal because it’s simply the right thing to do. What they should also be doing is making these egregious errors into object lessons. If their employees can’t figure this stuff out, maybe they shouldn’t be working in product design and marketing.
16
But a lot of these work forces don't work in the US or design clothes for Americans alone. They are worldwide companies and what is offensive in your area isn't in mine. So the local diversity manager is about making sure what is sold by a worldwide company in a local area reflects the local culture. It is not about people being purposely offensive. There is accidental offence in the world because of different cultural experiences, norms and colloquialisms.
9
Doesn't work. I was a teacher in Germany and the pupils at my school knew about such dehumanizing ads and would have made the connection at once. We shared all materials we had - my specialty was slavery, the Jim Crow Laws, Segregation the Civil Rights era, and everything related to this subject matter. Our school certainly was not the only one to pass on this information.
5
Did you see that beer commercial? In which the glass magically bypasses several black people and ends up in the hands of a white person, with the voiceover saying “Lighter is better”? How can that not be universally understood to be astonishingly racist? I don’t buy the argument.
2
That's the green cartoon frog that caused Hillary to lose the election! How could a retailer ever dare to put that green cartoon frog on a skirt?!
1
The snowflakes are clearly running amok. Anyone who has watched a TV western or a western movie has seen the six-pointed sheriff's or marshall's badge on the lead character. To confuse this with the six-pointed star of David is extreme--in the extreme.
7
Yes and no. When I first saw that image my mind instantly went to Holocaust.
I don’t think that was the intention of the design in the least but that type of star on stripes can bring up the images of the Holocaust. I am actually surprised that someone, in any country, didn’t catch that. I am an American with no connection, that I know of, to the holocaust but I instantly recognized the camp uniform. I guess people in some countries need better history lessons and, for the benefit of society, I hope they get them because I never want anyone to forget the tragedies that happened in the 1930s and 40s.
12
On those Westerns where they shot down stereotyped Native Americans played by white men? Great example.
4
That picture was lifted from a a vocally anti Semitic right wing website. It meant it as a Jewish star
Coolest monkey in the jungle. Nice thought H & M. Now everyone wants one.
2
im outraged when i see obviously racist back t-shirts. same for white ones.
1
“Screening technologies?” How about just hiring people with common sense.
16
It takes someone who doesn't read the news to be unaware that black people were and are called monkies. It is a big problem among black soccer players who have bananas thrown at them along with the verbal taunts. If the model had been white it would have been seen as a cute shirt. The model's mom sees him as her cute kid who is beginning his career.
A company should be more careful about possible double meaning and insults if it doesn't want to offend its customers. A few weeks ago, Walmart had to remove some T-shirts with "funny" sayings about the Irish. I bet some of the same people who are decrying political correctness now were offended themselves over those shirts.
8
If you'd seen the football (soccer) games around Europe and elsewhere where fans throw bananas at black player and make monkey noises in the stadium, you'd realize that this is more than just a few PC people being offended.
27
They don't need "diversity managers" and "cultural awareness" training. They just need to hire people with IQs over 85, who speak, read and write English, and who passed a high school Modern World History class.
24
I have doubts that the “coolest monkey in the jungle” is racist and that the model choice was racist. Maybe it was purposeful which would be horrific to do to a child. But kids are cute, monkeys are cute, kids are sometimes called cute little monkeys. Yeah I know, blacks have been called monkeys as a slur. But if it is thought to be racist, why keep showing the boy in the picture? If it is always a humiliation to be called a monkey, then why show the boy for the article? If the picture is so harmful, why harm the boy further? I think it is terrible to use this innocent boy who was simply a model as an example of racism and to say, see here, this boy, humiliated, labeled a monkey. If that is indeed the feeling, block his face out. Leave him alone. How about some respect for the kid who has nothing to do with this adult argument!
8
Cats are Cool. Coolest Cat in the Jungle is cool.
"Coolest Monkey" sounds like a clueless machine translation of some anime trope.
1
This is ridiculous. All H&M had to do was invite a group of people of diverse backgrounds to do product testing and get some reviews. If they had conducted one of these testings, they would have gotten feedback that a hoodie that said "coolest monkey in the jungle" could be easily misconstrued as historical racial sentiments that expressed black people as sub-human. Do they really need a specific person to be in charge of diversity? How about just screening potentially problematic products through actual customers first? (Just like the recently ill conceived light beer commercial that Heineken created. These multinational corporates need to screen their commercials/products through a diverse customer group first.)
6
This is starting to look like the Modesty Patrol in Iran. The Quran refers to Jews as apes. Nazi caricatures depicted Jews as pigs. America historically depicted blacks and Asians as monkeys. Five point star and a swastika are ancient Indian motives. Horizontal stripes were worn by Gondoliers in Venice forever. Monkeys, pigs, snakes and frogs are animals traditionally “appropriated” in fables, mythology, art and design. Get over it!
I am a designer and both my parents survived the concentration camps. Fascistic culture offends me not ready to wear.
2
Some of these things are very likely not deliberately offensive garments. It is about different cultural sensitivities in different places in the world.
My mother in Australia always called her children 'cheeky monkeys'. I'm white. So in some cultures to call say a child is a monkey is not offensive. It is actually cute. (Clearly some people of African heritage may not believe there is no offence in it, but hand on my heart, I am telling the truth.) There is no association with it being bad.
Makes me wonder if the Holocaust symbol shirt was designed by say a young woman from a place in the world where the negative connotations of the shape have no meaning. It is not symbolic. In time this is actually inevitable.
That said, if something causes offence in one country, of course, managers should call that out as inappropriate for that area of the world.
3
These companies need diversity managers to tell them when they're being stupid? How much does that pay? I'll take it.
6
To please the 3 snowflakes offended by a shirt, we need a 'diversity' hire. Yes, everyone is outraged or offended by something. Maybe these companies can do us a favor and stop caving to an outraged few on Twitter who whine about everything.
2
Pardon me, but do you actually need someone of colour to point out the clear obvious?!
You cannot be naïve to these racial stereotypes highlighted repeatedly in the media for decades and decades, so not buying the naiveté act!
I would think, the people the retailers hire in noteworthy positions are smart enough to know crossing the line and otherwise.Market/Branding is solely responsible for these decisions.
Perhaps H&M, Zara and the rest of them are just responding because this marketing strategy backfired?...Because, we all know shock value can work or hurt a company. In the case of H&M,twas the latter.
What a mess!
2
Do people not have enough to whine about?
3
Use of the term "tone-deaf" to describe cultural insensitivity is probably offensive to hearing impaired people, perhaps this article should have been reviewed by a diversity manager.
3
I wish the retailers would come up with a more friendly alternative to a Hoodie. I understand why they are nice when the weather turns cold, but the only person who doesn't scare me when he approaches me on a dark street with a hoodie hiding his face is a octagenarian walking with a cane, and even then, I would probably switch to the other side of the road. Race is irrelevant; you can't tell what race is hiding behind that hoodie anyway. It is just darn scary to have a hidden face approaching you. If they had a cap or ear muffs on I wouldn't hesitate for a nanosecond. I walked my dogs in the nautical dawn and turned around when a guy with a hoodie approached. Turned out to the the kid who lives 5 doors down, delivering newspapers.
Get creative Designers!!!!
5
I've seen stores in my area with signs asking customers to pull down the hood on their sweatshirts before entering. It's become a stereotypical uniform for those who commit crimes that has crossed over to any one wearing a hoodie.
1
I wonder what would happen to the incidence of racial profiling and unnecessary force and wrongful death if all hoodies were magically replaced with V-neck sweaters.
For those protesting this as an overreach of political correctness: the word 'monkey' became a hated word after the Neo-Nazis housed in the GOP used it as a racist slur.
Get rid of the racism in the GOP's midst and you'll get some words back.
8
This problem has been around forever, just in different forms. Naming product for example - the Chevy Nova when exported to Mexico was mocked as Nova, essentially means does not go. Sony, many years ago, innocently named a data product it had the petafile, not realizing it sounded similar to pedophile. One of my own former companies had an advertising campaign for a product whose silhouette in the ad looked like a Japanese grave site - needless to say, we pulled the ad. These decisions are not done with intent to harm, nor are they necessarily careless - it's a big world, lots of cultures, lots of opportunity to inadvertently offend, and impossible to always get it right. Everyone needs to be a little more forgiving and little less shrill.
9
The problem is not the ethnic diversity of the work force but rather that H&M did not have the proper centralized controls and line review processes in place. Maybe H&M needs to study the troubles over at YouTube a little more closely to learn some cautionary tales of moderated content. As my 1st grade teacher used to say, "Haste makes waste."
9
I can't wait for the day that hoodies are gone.
7
They've been around since I was a kid, and I'm 57. So I expect you'll be waiting a while.
15
I am wearing one right now:)) Indoors, even.
You would have to live in Seattle to truly appreciate a hoodie. It serves as an umbrella. I never carry an umbrella but rarely leave the house without a hoodie.
8
So essentially companies are hiring people for common sense. It's incredibly sad but it does seem that common sense has gone by the wayside these days, in every country and every society.
On the flip side, half of these examples (and other ones that weren't mentioned) were not intended to offend and there are probably plenty of consumers who think they're cute or sassy, etc. It's one thing if a brand purposefully chose something to make people feel uncomfortable or feel hated, etc but it's another thing entirely when a select group of people find a way to feel offended. When something incredibly obvious ends up being sold (such as symbols of the Holocaust), that is a huge problem. But H&M's "coolest monkey in the jungle" sweatshirt--that's cute. I understand that people are incensed because they used a black boy model. I think they need to ask themselves, would they be offended if they used a white boy or an Asian boy or a Hispanic boy, etc. If the answer is no, then aren't they really just contributing to black models being forced out of work? Are they saying that black models shouldn't be allowed certain work?
4
It should not take hiring people of other races and religions to realise how awful some of this clothing is. Sweden prides itself on being one of the most tolerant societies in the world. Clearly this story pokes holes in that. Of course the people in other parts of the world who dream this stuff up (and often make unintentionally but innocuously funny clothes due to their poor English) share some blame but much less.
4
Intriguing to read this on a day the BBC ran a piece on this discussing suspicions that the companies in question may make these tactless marketing/design choices deliberately to generate views and gain brand attention.
http://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-43554424
6
I thought those frogs looked more like Ninja Turtles myself. The hoopla gave publicity to the alt right. Sometimes it’s better to let things die a silent death.
5
The whole Pepe affair was such a fiasco. Pepe was never a hate symbol- he was just a slightly creepy, slightly adorable cartoon frog that people drew in entertaining and odd situations.
Then, just a handful of memes with Pepe as Trump or wearing a MAGA hat (out of the THOUSANDS of Pepes created in 2015-16) went viral, and the ADL was like, "Yep, that's a hate symbol," even though perusing the Pepe the Frog page on KnowYourMeme for just 30 seconds makes it clear just how insignificant the alt-right's appropriation of the meme really is.
2
THIS is exactly why these companies have to hire people specially to do this. Because if they rely on (well-meaning) people like Ginger or Ginger they either won't even notice the issue at all (Ginger) or they will think the issue should be dismissed (Ford and Ginger).
1
While this is an important issue, at least our most prestigious universities don’t classify applicants by race or ethnicity. Or do they?
1
Increase diversity, improve and reward retention (turnover is a failure of management), increase civic and diversity training, promote volunteerism, hire quality people with civic engagement interests and without red flags on social media.
This is not a one shot fix - this is a new way of understanding and doing business.
3
How about just hoodies and other apparel that is devoid of any slogans? Just solid colors or stripes. For one, in my 55 years as an adult I have never owned any shirt, t-shirt or sweatshirt with any slogan or sports team logo. Easy to avoid issues wearing just solid colors.
16
It’s not by accident that we find racism in advertising, particularly in edgy, “fashion forward” brands. It’s a marker of the deep white privilege ideology that pervades our society and influences global fashion. Curiously, these gaffes never seem to denigrate those at the top of the perceived social order.
11
Curiously? Or they don’t buy hoodies?
2
"Curiously, these gaffes never seem to denigrate those at the top of the perceived social order." - comment by Anne
Folks at the top got there by focussing on important matters rather than finding offense wherever they look. On the other hand some folks live for their victimization agendas.
10
Considering fashion is one of the truly gay industries, asserting "deep white privilege" is rather laughable.
1
Better late (way too late) than never. May more follow suit. Good for them!!
2
I'm inclined to think the "Coolest monkey" is more of a marketing gaffe than a design gaffe. Would black South Africans (or black Americans) have been concerned if the model had been a white kid? I can understand why they might not want to buy it for their own child, but I have a seven year old grandson who would be all over that sweatshirt - loves his zoo animals, especially the primates.
38
One might ask why a black child was chosen over a white or Asian child as the model.
9
Probably better not to refer to children of any ethnicity/race or anyone else as a monkey. It’s not clever or cute. And there’s just no excuse whatsoever for the Star of David-like striped shirt from a European company. You can’t blame that one on cultural ignorance—it’s just pure tone-deafness and ignorance.
2
So do you think it was an "accident" the image included a black child? I don't. How often does this company even us black people in their marketing? Clearly, several people had an intent here. Many eyes saw and approved the ad.
11
It’s unfortunate that ‘diversity managers’ have to be hired to address this issue. If only those who generated the idea in the first place were more enlightened in the first place. But I suppose that would be expecting too much, esp at a time when clearly racial and gender minorities still have a long, long way to go.
7
In about 50 to 100 years, when we have destroyed the oceans with plastic particles (often from washing our modern clothing) and we all have to wear some environmentally friendly drab globally acceptable cellulose uniform reminicent of Mao’s China, we will look back on fashion history and weep nostalgically of the time when we had so much choice, and so much throw-away fashion at rock bottom prices, and the name of God appeared in Arabic as if by magic in the design on socks (H&M) and Haute Couture dresses; not sure which Paris fashion house it was, they have obviously cleaned up as much as possible of any web reporting of it as I can not find anything on the internet, wishing to provide a link for you. Mustn’t offend their best M.E. customer base with any reference to the Almighty on apparel. So people globally will find something to be offended by, if they want. It is similar to the cultural appropriation nonsense. Should the Nimois (of Nimes, in France, birthplace of Mr. de Nime inventor of Denim) say their denim is only to be worn by them otherwise it is cultural apprpriation? Reflect on that, all the students and young philosophising analysing be-jeaned people of the world.
11
"Should the Nimois (of Nimes, in France, birthplace of Mr. de Nime inventor of Denim) say their denim is only to be worn by them otherwise it is cultural apprpriation?"
I spent four years wearing chambray shirts in the Navy. I guess It was OK since my ancestors came from Chambray, France. Should everyone be prohibited from wearing corduroy? After all it was originally only to be worn by French royals. (cord du roy, the King's cloth).
2
By definition, cultural appropriation is ONLY when the privileged demographic uses (cashes in on) the culture of the historically disadvantaged.
So anyone wearing denim is not appropriating the culture of those from Nimes.
2
It's not just clothing ads that need to be careful. Intel's infamous runners ad kicked of a firestorm as well. https://gizmodo.com/285278/intel-apologizes-for-insulting-sprinter-ad Incidentally, at the time, Intel had people that specifically reviewed ads for cultural sensitivities, but not in the US. There was a presumption that the marketing staff understood their own market for such issues.
1
outrage is a business opportunity.
1
If a particular group takes on a garment as its preferred manner of dress, it does become a symbol in the public mind. No amount of anything will change that perception.
12
As mentioned, having a design and marketing workforce comprising people of all backgrounds can go a long way towards avoiding these cultural gaffes. Not to mention people whose mindset extends beyond their lifetimes and doing a bit of research (which is so much easier with modern technology). I remember a former NYC Human Resources Commissioner - when discussing the city's welfare-to-work program used the phrase "work makes you free" - not having been aware the same phrase in German is printed on the front gates of Auschwitz. He likely meant no harm though offense could have been avoided with some forethought. Same with whomever thought this ad was okay: https://gizmodo.com/285278/intel-apologizes-for-insulting-sprinter-ad.
3
Oh me god! I looked at that Intel ad, it's beyond disgusting. I would still find it a lousy ad if some of the sprinters were white. And what went in the mind of the designer to have them all bow to the ground in front of a dorkish white male?
As for the ad with the t-shirt with stripes and a star of David, there are no words for it. Either the designer and everyone involved in bringing this top to market are completely ignorant or are malicious. I'd go for ignorant, but there are so many different people participating in the process, so I wonder?
1
How terrible "designs with shockingly bad taste" showing up in the market place, allowing the consumer to make the choice.
So lucky we are now to have self-imposed cultural Marxist fashion commissars to control ideas and thoughts before they emerge from design to market and offend the "accepted" multicultural norms--a crime against humanity by any measure.
Does it get better than that? Only, I suppose, in Orwellian dystopias.
28
@ Alice's, get ready to be taken to the Ministry of Love by the Thought Police for a complete conversion prior to being vapourised, for having dared to question Big Politically Correct Brother.
10
Can you define what you mean by "cultural Marxist"?
3
@Owen, no, (s)he can't because (s)he has no idea what "Marxist" means, what "commissar" means, what "self-imposed" means (this isn't even political, it's just illiteracy), or possibly what "cultural" means.
2
I think the hoody only becomes racist in a racist environment. it is the observer who apparently associates the quote with ethnic origin.
25
@Andreas Thomas: Who else? You may not know that black people in the U.S. were widely denigrated as "monkeys" not long ago.
7
Andreas, You haven't seen the ad. There was one black kid with the saying that he was the smartest monkey in the jungle while the other all white kids' tops described them as engineers and other professions.
The context came out of the unconscious (or was it conscious?) of the many people who had the opportunity to see the project before it came to fruition. It's also a lousy ad in as much as ads are supposed to drum up business.
No one would buy that top for their black kid. There's a huge market that manufacturer lost....
4
My National Geographic has a large picture of a monkey next to a white baby with the caption their DNA is 99% identical. What would the response be if that was a picture of Obama as a child?
1
This is so pathetic. The mother of the kid in the ad has no problem with it - did you all know that? Maybe all the snowflakes out there should get a life and confront their own hyper-sensitivity about race. Must be a burden to have to live the life of a social justice warrior. You can never be happy as you're always looking for offense - very sad.
55
Must be a burden to be so easily angered over people who just are trying to be nice to other people. These businesses have every right to sell any offensive thing they desire. Nobody is advocating for a law denying them that right. However, if they're going to behave in ways that are grotesque, the rest of us have the right to not buy from them - and to tell them why we're no longer buying from them. They, in turn, have the right to stand their ground, or to decide their critics are right, apologize, and do better in the future. What this article describes is a mature social conversation and growth process. I'm very sorry you were so triggered by people acting like grown-ups.
54
My understanding (from someone in the business) is (1) a lot of the details on clothing are added after the photoshoot (Photosohp is a huge tool in the industry) and (2) you don't find out what you're modelling until you get to the shoot. Unless you're Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, or of that caliber - refusing means you're not long for the business.
So the mother may not have known what was happening until after it happened.
11
"Meet the New Conservative: same as the Old Conservative".
So goes the song.
1
Using common sense and perhaps having a focus on something other than sarcasm could be the key to successful business practices. Retailers don't have to hire token minorities to be some sort of race whisper for them.
But the real issue here isn't that these companies are dense, but IMO are actually telling the truth, or at least the truth of those who make decisions, they simply don't have respect or any regard for minorities, Jews or affected groups and resent that the world moving toward a greater acceptance of these groups.
5
Teresa, and they are loosing on huge markets. "Minorities" in the US are not minorities in great parts of the world. Get your calculator and look at a map of the world....
If they need to hire someone to manage avoiding making mistakes like this, maybe they are just so out of touch they shouldn’t even be in business.
37
The problem is these companies are both designing and selling in multinational markets. Sure, it may be obvious to you or me what is likely to be offensive here. But if I were approving a design that could be sold in Finland or Taiwan or Nepal or South Africa or Brazil... how could I possibly know what might be offensive in all those places? I'm sure most of these designs were handled in other countries. Could we reasonably expect a Swedish stylist to understand the implications of "monkey" in other countries? If this were a Philadelphia couture designer making products to be sold in Philadelphia, NYC, and Washington DC... yes, we'd expect them to have a pretty good handle on the expectations of their market. But multinational corporations have different challenges.
17
Some of these things are probably to deliberately offensive garments. It is about different cultural sensitivities in different places in the world.
My mother in Australia always called her children 'cheeky monkeys'. I'm white. So in some cultures to call say a child a monkey is not offensive. It is actually cute. (Clearly some people of African heritage may not believe there is no offence in it, but hand on my heart, I am telling the truth.) There is no association with it being bad.
Makes me wonder if the Holocaust symbol shirt was designed by say a young woman from a place in the world where the negative connotations of the shape have no meaning. It is not symbolic. In time this is actually inevitable.
That said, if something causes offence in one country, of course, managers should call that out as inappropriate for that area of the world.
I laughed,when I saw the picture
I have the same skin complexion as this young fellas ,and over a million times I’ll chose the same color over and over again
What’s more beautiful than that.
1
So are you a monkey?
2
No ,just too proud and greatful and happy of my skin color (dark),that I never understand why some people get upset when others try to denigrate them by calling them names
That’s all.
Can express how grateful I feel, for it
1
The black kid is called "monkey" while the white kids around him have tops that designate them as "engineer", "airplane pilots" etc.
Yes, I agree with you "Black if beautiful", but typecasting on the basis of the amount of melanin in your skin, particularly given the recent and present history of the US, is so very very very ugly.
Please ask you parents and grandparents what they think of this ad?
4
Someone is going to be offended by something, always . For example, the (Ivy league) students who refused to learn about Homer and TS Eliott because they exemplify "white patriarchy and oppression".
39
Doesn't H&M have billions in unsold merchandise? https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/27/business/hm-clothes-stock-sales.html
6
Hmmmm. Accompanying photos of both H&M and Zara stores on Fifth Ave. depict only white mannequins. Easy Fix No. 1: diversify the in-store mannequin mix.
10
If they have 2 hours to approve a design and there are thousands of designs, no amount of diversity reviewers will catch them all.
And, for example, coolest monkey in the jungle, is offensive not just in South Africa, but here in the US, and many other places.
Still, I do think events like killing a Black man in his own backyard is a much more serious issue than a tasteless fashion item.
22
Agreed on the point of importance. No article that addresses the "coolest monkey in the jungle" hoodie ever shows the other hoodies with similar animal phrases and "less brown" child models. If the set director on the shoot had decided to put the "coolest monkey..." hoodie on a white model and the "tiger..." one on the black model this would have never been an issue. And the Heineken tagline being an issue is absolutely absurd. People act like "light" beer promotion is a novel thing with that ad and that the implied reference to "calories/weight" is not entirely clear. When reading the lead-up to it, I honestly thought the backlash had to do with fat-shaming.
6
The Heineken problem was the racism in the skin colors, not the "lightness" of the bieer.
1
Okay, I get it—cultural differences explain a lot—monkeys are cute, kids love them, little boy is adorable, huh??? there’s a problem???—but so does sheer ignorance and poor management. No one in these companies knows what a Jewish star looks like or ever heard of the Holocaust?? A sheriff’s badge is a kinda cute idea—could you consider making it silver with a much more obvious lettering? These are multi-national companies that make a fortune in America and elsewhere. These are stupid mistakes. No excuse.
3
H&M including these horrid hoodies in their reported 4.4 billion $$ in overstock inventory recently reported on in NYT?
1
Let's hope that they don't outsource the appropriateness of their product like they outsource their customer service. We all have horror stories of dealing with people who speak very good accented English, following a script, who just don't get it.
15
Good
1
But if I only wear a plain white t-shirt my wife then claims I look like a slob. Losing our fur was a big mistake.
8
PC run amok. Whatever happened to free speech?
26
Consumers reserve the right to turn their backs on tasteless or inappropriate merchandise. There is no free speech question here.
30
Can you point me to the part where the government is censoring these companies, tmann?
This has absolutely nothing to do with free speech.
7
Were there lawsuits? Was anyone jailed or fined? No. Your imagination runs amok.
Also keep in mind that "Free speech" is not a global thingy.
4
I came of age before cute witty phrases appeared on a person`s attire. We even would tie dye or make our own clothes as a form of expression. Somehow the world has changed and clothing has become a billboard of corporate advertising. I refuse to showcase such nonsense on my attire.
84
Agree. Likewise with the home decor - those pre-fab sayings people put up on the wall ("love. life. live." or whatever and such). Why is this a thing?
2
Yes, my favorite. “Live. Love. Laugh.” A directive!
1
I totally agree. In fact, I think that the companies should pay the wearers to advertise for them by wearing stuff with logos of said companies or other "designs".
Curmudgeonly yours,
Diane.
Designers and manufacturers certainly should make every effort to avoid offending potential customers. It is in their own best interest. But a diverse world and instantaneous communications mean that a small group of offended people anywhere can create widespread outrage.
The use of English as a second language in product designs and advertising increases the chances of a using a word that has an offensive second meaning in some countries—like monkey in the example given. In many countries, a monkey is simply a primate with a tail.
45
Jim, you missed the point. The model was black. Not so long ago the word "monkey" was widely used as an abusive epithet for black people.
2
I don't think language mistranslation had anything to do with it, the phrase combined with the race of the young boy wearing it set up an offensive image...the context is relevant. I think that it's more than just a tiny group of people who were offended (I find it offensive and so has eveyone I've shown it to so far). And for folks saying no one should complain about imagery in ads and products or pop culture, we as a society have to establish norms for a civilized existence... accepting everything with a shoulder shrug just leads to even more explicit images and reinforces ignorant sterotypes. What message do we want to send to kids: respecting others or demeaning them?
3
Not replying to any particular message. Just an observation. Within reasonable limits, "cultural sensitiveness, diversity-awareness, offensive" equals BORING