Belgian player and Manchester United forward Romelu Lukaku has waded into the clothing advert that has gotten Swedish brand H&M caught up in a racism row.
'Black is beautiful': Lukaku responds to H&M's 'Coolest Monkey' racist ad
Lukaku via instagram joined many social media activists slamming H&M whiles “altering” the racist inscription that appeared on a black boy’s hoodie on their website.
The company put up a photo of two boys showcasing a hoodie. Whereas the white boy’s hoodie had the inscription: “Mangrove Jungle Survival Expert,” that of the black boy was “Coolest Monkey In The Jungle.”
Black boy in racist H&M hoodie ad appears on Angola wall painting ad
H&M apologizes using black boy in ‘Coolest Monkey’ ad
Lukaku’s rendition had the green hoodie bearing the words, “BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL.” Whiles the photo came with a message: “You’re prince soon to be a king. Don’t let anybody tell you different …#blackexcellence.”
You’re prince soon to be a king ?? Don’t let anybody tell you different … #blackexcellence A post shared by Romelu Lukaku (@rlukaku9) on Jan 8, 2018 at 5:24pm PST
The company has since pulled down the advert and apologized for the offence that it may have caused. “We’re deeply sorry that the picture was taken, and we also regret the actual print,” the statement read.
pic.twitter.com/WykuYSPxYv— H&M (@hm) January 9, 2018
The apology has, however, done little to remedy the outrage on Twitter especially. One of their associates tweeted that he had severed relations with the company over the photo.
Others also slammed the apology as a no apology whiles artists continue to post varied renditions of the photo.
woke up this morning shocked and embarrassed by this photo. i’m deeply offended and will not be working with hm anymore... pic.twitter.com/P3023iYzAb
— The Weeknd (theweeknd) January 8, 2018
KING ❤️?✊?
· #kingoftheworld #hm #dopeart pic.twitter.com/CVBa36pe9J— Rafael Mercedes (@RafaelSthlm) January 9, 2018
#HandM King and Queen #HM pic.twitter.com/1i7sMNFVfb— Nkululeko WaAfrika (@IamNkulyCool) January 9, 2018
This hm nonsense of a clothing store arrived in South Africa with racist undertones. And now they connote that black people are monkeys, even print clothes for that. All self respecting people in the world should boycott H&M and there should be consequences for their actions. pic.twitter.com/Q5WPjKN5YX— Floyd Shivambu (FloydShivambu) January 9, 2018