Clothing chain H&M has pulled a campaign aimed at primary school children that used the line, “Make those heads turn in H&M back to school fashion.”
The ad, which was running in Australia features two young girls in pinafore dresses and provoked an inevitable backlash on social media. Psychologist Dr Pam Spurr posted on X: “Your vile ad panders to paedophiles that it’s OK lusting after girls. Boycott H&M. A shameful exploitation of girls.”
H&M said simply: “We have removed this ad. We are deeply sorry for the offense this has caused and will look into how we present campaigns going forward.”
These kind of tone deaf campaigns end up pulling the whole industry into disrepute – even from the other side of the world – but they seem to keep on coming.
