After being accused of sexualising young children in an advertisement, fashion giant H&M has issued an apology and withdrawn the controversial campaign in Australia.
As per reports, the advertisement by H&M featured two girls of primary school age.
In the advertisement, going viral on the internet, the two girls can be seen wearing grey-hued pinafore dresses. The slogan attached to the advertisement read, “Make those heads turn in H&M's Back to School fashion.”
Australian author Melinda Tankard Reist was among the first ones to criticise the tagline saying that no schoolgirl would want to “turn heads” with their appearance. Sharing the screenshot of the now-deleted advertisement on X (formerly Twitter), Ms Melinda wrote, “H&M what is your intention with this sponsored Facebook ad? Little schoolgirls generally don't want to “turn heads”. The large numbers I engage with in schools want to be left alone to learn and have fun and not draw unwanted attention to their appearance.”
@hm@hmaustralia what is your intention with this sponsored Facebook ad? Little schoolgirls generally don't want to “turn heads”. The large numbers I engage with in schools want to be left alone to learn and have fun and not draw unwanted attention to their appearance 1/ pic.twitter.com/DDwv42GeNz
— Melinda TankardReist (@MelTankardReist) January 18, 2024
In a thread, she added, “The little girl's parents generally prefer heads don't ‘turn' when others see their daughters walking to school, on a bus or in class. Why would you want to fuel the idea that little girls should draw attention to their looks, bodies and ‘style'?”
The little girls parents generally prefer heads don't ‘turn' when others see their daughters walking to school, on a bus or in class. Why would you want to fuel the idea that little girls should draw attention to their looks, bodies and ‘style'? 2/
— Melinda TankardReist (@MelTankardReist) January 18, 2024
Ms Reist continued, “Perhaps have a word to your marketing team and come up with something that doesn't draw attention to pre-pubescent girls already struggling to thrive in a culture that values ‘lookism' as an aspirational goal?”
Perhaps have a word to your marketing team and come up with something that doesn't draw attention to pre pubescent girls already struggling to thrive in a culture that values ‘lookism' as an aspirational goal? 3/3 #girls#children#sexualisation#adultification#bodyimage…
— Melinda TankardReist (@MelTankardReist) January 18, 2024
The Australian author wasn't alone, several other users also reacted strongly against the advertisement. Soon after the social media uproar H&M withdrew the ad and apologised. The retailer was quoted as saying, “We have removed this ad. We are deeply sorry for the offence this has caused and will look into how we present campaigns going forward.”
In a separate incident in 2023, Chinese-owned online marketplace Temu also came under fire similarly after it had launched an advertisement that allegedly sexualised young children.
The advertisement featured a girl aged between eight to ten wearing a bikini and posing in a manner that was deemed "quite adult for a girl of her age" by the Advertising Standards Authority.
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