Lively debate has been sparked after H&M’s latest advertisement release. H&M is a Swedish multinational clothing-retail company known for its fast-fashion clothing for men, women, teenagers and children. The advertisement depicts an African-American boy sporting a hoodie that reads “coolest monkey in the jungle.” Now social media wonders whether the choice in wording was an intentional racial slur or a careless mistake.

“I don’t think a company as popular as H&M would intentionally do something that could hurt their image,” freshman Lindsey Hill said. “I do think they should’ve thought about what they were doing before releasing something like that.”

Sophomore Marlee Krause agrees.

“It was most likely an accident,” Krause said. “No brand would use an intentionally racist comment to further their brand.”

This advertisement isn’t enough to drive sophomore Jade Norton away, however.

“I don’t think they should lose my business because of a mistake like this,” she said. “In my opinion, social media is blowing this out of proportion.”

By Gracie Moravecky