Particularly, a common obsession with finding tiny faults, being overly sensitive and stepping on eggshells around issues such as race and gender.Īdditionally, these Tribes noted that they didn’t believe H&M intended to cause any offense and merely made a big mistake. Many also agreed that the wider contextual backdrop of today’s society has been a critical factor in shaping such reactions. This group frequently commented that the photograph was made into a bigger issue than was necessary, pinpointing the media in particular as being overdramatic and fuelling a larger public overreaction. The majority of the 38% of Tribes who argued that the H&M advert had done nothing wrong, did so the basis that if the child and his mother didn’t care about it then neither should they. This report will now look at the three opinion segments in greater depth. The opinions of our Tribes ranged from finding the advert severely offensive and inappropriate, to critiquing the overreaction of an overly sensitised society, to even claiming that the whole controversy was engineered by H&M itself to generate publicity and drive sales.
Therefore highlighting one reason behind the considerable variation and spread of responses. It was recognised by the Tribes that their personal opinions were a result of their own life experiences, backgrounds and ethnicities. Three general themes emerged from their range of responses:ġ) Those who strongly disagreed with the adĢ) T hose who acknowledged both sides of the argumentģ) Those who felt the ad was doing nothing wrong When asked about how they felt towards the controversial H&M advert the Tribes were very divided.
In a qualitative study, we asked 53 of our Tribes how they felt about this recent advertising blunder by H&M, receiving many varied responses. However, others have contrarily responded that it was just an unfortunate and unintentional mistake, and the subsequent backlash is an overreaction that is highly unnecessary and damaging in nature. Other critics argued that the deeply inappropriate photograph represented severe negligence of H&M, mainly the advertising team and the board. In the ensuing public outcry many people took to social media to proclaim their outrage for what was seen as racist advertising. In early January this year, an H&M advert caused huge controversy when a photograph was released of a young black child wearing a green hoodie with the phrase “Coolest monkey in the jungle” emblazoned upon it. Download the PDF Version (Opens in new window)
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