Celebrity fury over ‘racist’ clothing brand advert

SOME of South Africa’s most famous stars are outraged over an advert by international clothing brand H&M’s of a little black boy wearing the “coolest monkey in the jungle” hoodie.

The Swedish clothing giant apologised and removed the advertisement on Monday, after the firm came under fire on social media.

Among those who have expressed their anger and have called for a boycott of the clothing store were rappers‚ Cassper Nyovest‚ Reason‚ Stilo Magolide and Kwesta.

Nyovest told his fans on social media they would never see him in an H&M store again.

He later posted an edited version of the latest advert and a lengthy Instagram message hailing blacks as “the kings of the world”.

Kwesta said he planned to burn his H&M clothing in protest.

“I‚ unfortunately have some H&M clothing, that I’m burning in the morning‚” he said on Monday evening.

Somizi Mhlongo sent a message on Instagram saying he was never a fan of the brand and called for people to not buy from H&M.

“First, they never had people of colour in their campaigns‚ even when they came to Africa. Now this,” he said.

“Let’s show them the power of the monkey rand by not buying from them.”

Minnie Dlamini was a little more blunt‚ simply declaring: “F*ck them actually!” Lerato Kganyago lambasted the brand through a series of tweets‚ claiming that many blacks were only brought into companies not to make decisions, but to add “ambience”.

Clothing giant H&M has become the latest in a series of international brands to spark outrage over alleged racist adverts.

In October‚ Dove came under fire for airing a commercial showing a black woman turning into a white woman after removing her top.

Two weeks later, beauty brand Nivea was similarly accused of being racist after showing a woman instantly turning lighter when applying a Nivea lotion‚ while claiming that it made her feel younger.