Fashion giant H&M pulls Ad after claims it sexualized underage girls

The Swedish fashion giant, H&M

Swedish brand apologises after advertisement campaign in Australia prompts backlash online.

The Swedish fashion giant, H&M, withdrew an advertisement for school clothing in response to complaints of sexualizing underage girls.

The campaign in Australia showcased two young girls in school uniforms with the caption, "Make those heads turn in H&M’s Back to School fashion." On Monday, an H&M spokesperson stated, "We have removed this ad. We are deeply sorry for the offense this has caused, and we are looking into how we present campaigns going forward."

The move comes after social media users accused the clothing brand of sexualising young girls.

“The little girls’ parents generally prefer heads don’t ‘turn’ when others see their daughters walking to school, on a bus or in class,” Melinda Tankard Reist, an Australian writer known for campaigning against pornography, said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

“Why would you want to fuel the idea that little girls should draw attention to their looks, bodies and ‘style’? 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?”

The backlash is the latest in a series of controversies involving fashion brands’ advertising campaigns.

In the previous month, Zara withdrew a campaign that depicted a model amidst debris and mannequins covered in shrouds following criticism on social media for being insensitive to victims of the Gaza war.

The luxury fashion brand Balenciaga, based in Paris, issued an apology the previous year for featuring advertisements showcasing children holding teddy bears in bondage-style clothing along with a printout of a Supreme Court decision supporting laws against child pornography.

Source: Al Jazeera