LONDON, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Fashion retailer H&M (HMb.ST), has withdrawn an ad featuring school girls after complaints that the campaign encouraged the sexualisation of under-age girls.
The advert, launched in Australia, featured the slogan: "Make those heads turn in H&M's Back to School fashion" above a photo of two girls wearing gray H&M pinafore dresses.
"We have removed this ad," an H&M spokesperson said on Monday. "We are deeply sorry for the offence this has caused and we are looking into how we present campaigns going forward."
The fashion retailer's shares hit a two-month low, down 1.4% by 1540 GMT, underperforming peers.
H&M's rowback is the latest in a string of missteps by fashion brands leading to adverts backfiring. In December, Zara (ITX.MC), pulled a campaign featuring statues wrapped in white, after calls for a boycott and protests over a perceived resemblance to images from the war in Gaza.
https://www.reuters.com/business/re...s-over-sexualisation-school-girls-2024-01-22/
H&M's Back to School fashion ad was pulled in Australia due to complaints that the campaign encouraged the sexualisation of school girls. But the ad looks fine and there is nothing wrong with girls who want to look attractive in school especially around Valentine's Day. H&M gave in to feminist trolls on Musk's X who called it “creepy” and “disturbing.”
Last edited: