What We Can Learn from Racial Insensitivity in Advertisements

Sydney Oseroff  

Imagine shopping online and finding an African American boy wearing a hoodie that reads “coolest monkey in the jungle.” Immediately, any social media savvy person would take to those sources to share this kind of mockery with the public. This is exactly what happened to H&M.

This ad created outrage all throughout the world, forcing H&M to close multiple stores, namely in South Africa. This feud had been linked back to a comment made that H&M did not have enough black models, to which they responded that ​they wanted to have a more “positive image.”​ Many celebrity collabs, including The Weeknd, decided they’d no longer work with the company following this clear display of lackluster racial ethics. Following the incident, H&M decided to hire a diversity manager to steer clear of another worldwide disaster that would essentially shut them down.

Racial ethics have been a continued issue throughout the world. People do not seem to understand that you can’t do or say anything you want; it may come off as racially insensitive. A common link that can be presumed from these back to back issues include the lack of diversity training within these companies basic infrastructures, especially across the world. The fact is, bringing in employees that come from all walks of life, does not mean they will understand the simple etiquette of racial insensitivity. For example, H&M’s headquarters are located in Sweden. A study from Linköping University showed that many people don’t think racism is an issue in Sweden, but this advertisement that created such a heated controversy says another thing. We can’t blame it all on them for this, but we can point a finger at the executives for not having proper diversity training in place for their employees.

H&M is not the only company that has made mistakes like this, as many of our favorite companies have long contributed to this issue including Starbucks, Dove, and Chick-Fil-A. Some of the companies now have created elaborate ways to train their employees on diversity topics, but is it enough to stop these racially motivated debates? The big question is, what can we do to stop this?

Stopping racism right in its tracks after years of battling the issue is nearly impossible, but learning from mistakes is a step in the right direction. As budding professionals in the advertising world, we must take a stand to be more conscientious, so these same issues do not resurface. Whether you grew up around diversity or not, having a mindset that is respectful to others is imperative to further grow in your career. You will meet many people from distinct backgrounds; being respectful to their identities is the key to making meaningful connections. These connections bring endless opportunities.