Okay, so where am I?
I'm on phone watch hoping Karl-Johan Persson, the CEO and president of Hennes & Mauritz, aka H&M, stops monkeying around and dials me up so we can discuss their ridiculous Monkey hoodie and subsequent lame apology. Maybe before I rant and rave and tell you how a simple pre-release phone call to the Media Guy can save companies millions of dollars, perhaps I should show you the source of my consternation:
Uhhhhhhh...I'd be speechless in this case, but, you know, I'm never speechless.
In previous columns, I have expressed empathy for the CEOs of these organizations for not calling because I felt people in the marketing and advertising department would lose their jobs. But in reality, nothing happens. They just go about their days and weeks issuing lame apologies and react to the situation they caused, rather than respond to them.
In case you missed it, the term "monkey" has been used as a racial slur toward African-Americans. Just look at the picture above. In the ad, the African-American is a "monkey" and the Caucasian kid is a "survival expert." Ugh!
The "monkey" sweatshirt fiasco is yet another miserable reminder of how much more work lies ahead when it comes educating corporations about the consequences of using certain images and messaging. The Swedish clothing giant is learning that lesson firsthand.
A barrage of comments ensued, including multi-platinum recording artist The Weeknd who ended his partnership with H&M:
It didn't end there. A barrage of comments ensued, with celebs from Questlove and Snoop Dogg to LeBron James and Diddy raucously protesting (and, in some cases, redesigning) the tone-deaf ad via Twitter and Instagram. H&M also lost rapper G-Eazy who also terminated his agreement in advance of the March 1 launch of his H&M collection.
In true cover your ass mode, H&M released a statement saying it had withdrawn the hoodie from sale and would "thoroughly investigate" to make sure there is not a repeat of the incident.
I'm on phone watch hoping Karl-Johan Persson, the CEO and president of Hennes & Mauritz, aka H&M, stops monkeying around and dials me up so we can discuss their ridiculous Monkey hoodie and subsequent lame apology. Maybe before I rant and rave and tell you how a simple pre-release phone call to the Media Guy can save companies millions of dollars, perhaps I should show you the source of my consternation:
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| H&M: What were you thinking? |
In previous columns, I have expressed empathy for the CEOs of these organizations for not calling because I felt people in the marketing and advertising department would lose their jobs. But in reality, nothing happens. They just go about their days and weeks issuing lame apologies and react to the situation they caused, rather than respond to them.
In case you missed it, the term "monkey" has been used as a racial slur toward African-Americans. Just look at the picture above. In the ad, the African-American is a "monkey" and the Caucasian kid is a "survival expert." Ugh!
The "monkey" sweatshirt fiasco is yet another miserable reminder of how much more work lies ahead when it comes educating corporations about the consequences of using certain images and messaging. The Swedish clothing giant is learning that lesson firsthand.
A barrage of comments ensued, including multi-platinum recording artist The Weeknd who ended his partnership with H&M:
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
In true cover your ass mode, H&M released a statement saying it had withdrawn the hoodie from sale and would "thoroughly investigate" to make sure there is not a repeat of the incident.
As my colleagues have noted over the years, the "whitest guy in the room" should take a backseat when it comes to being outspoken about racial matters. Having spent my formative years growing up in Inglewood, Compton, Hawthorne, I know what sets a crowd off and how institutional stereotypes screws everything up.
From where I sit, it's painfully obvious that no one of color is involved with the H&M creative teams. Further their apology seems like a reluctant task rather than a duty to the communities they are hoping to retain favor with...
H&M is a huge brand among people of color. What other actionable moves is H&M going to make? They’ve supported so many popular and up-and-coming artists including Lana Del Rey, Chance the Rapper, Amason, Florrie, and Lykke Li. If H&M addresses the issue honestly and explains how they’re going to rectify it then of course it will all blow over. As we know, talent is forgiving, especially when a payday rolls around. A year from now, few will remember.
I guess what bothers me is that all of this could have been stopped with one call to me. If they would have shown me this ad series, I could have solved it all by just switching the sweatshirts from one kid to another. It could have been done in post-production with a few hours of Photoshop.
In the coming days and weeks, it will be fascinating to see what the ensuing fallout will be for H&M. Will other music artists resist associating with the multi-billion-dollar chain? What additional steps will the firm take to recalibrate its in-house attention to cultural detail?
Will they call the Media Guy?
Karl-Johan...remember this: one call to me will save could you millions of dollars...words to consider strongly.
Previous "You Should Have Called the Media Guy" Columns:
The American Red Cross
Pepsi
Kellogg's
Anaheim Ducks
T-Mobile, Dove, and McDonald's
From where I sit, it's painfully obvious that no one of color is involved with the H&M creative teams. Further their apology seems like a reluctant task rather than a duty to the communities they are hoping to retain favor with...
I worked for them for years and they’re clueless sometimes. The head office in Sweden is very disconnected to issues of racism, cultural & social challenges. They seriously probably think this is cute.— loveislove (@loveisloverey) January 8, 2018
I guess what bothers me is that all of this could have been stopped with one call to me. If they would have shown me this ad series, I could have solved it all by just switching the sweatshirts from one kid to another. It could have been done in post-production with a few hours of Photoshop.
In the coming days and weeks, it will be fascinating to see what the ensuing fallout will be for H&M. Will other music artists resist associating with the multi-billion-dollar chain? What additional steps will the firm take to recalibrate its in-house attention to cultural detail?
Will they call the Media Guy?
Karl-Johan...remember this: one call to me will save could you millions of dollars...words to consider strongly.
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Previous "You Should Have Called the Media Guy" Columns:
The American Red Cross
Pepsi
Kellogg's
Anaheim Ducks
T-Mobile, Dove, and McDonald's