H&M pulls school uniform ad as retailer is accused of ‘sexualising’ young girls with slogan ‘make those heads turn’

22 January 2024, 08:00

Fashion retailer H&M has been forced to take down an ad after facing backlash for ‘sexualising’ children.

The clothing giant faced a torrent of criticism after it shared a ‘Back to School’ advert from the Australian version of the brand.

It showed two young girls wearing school pinafore dresses along with the caption: “Make those heads turn in H&M’s Back to School fashion”.

Those online swiftly called out the retailer for the ad which was accused of “sexualising” children.

One wrote: “What the h is this. H&M sexualising children.”

Another said: “This is revolting H&M, take down the ad & investigate how the ad got approval.”

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While another added: “The whole point of school uniforms is to stop kids using brands to shame other poorer kids, quite apart from the seedy undertones this advert has. What are H&M thinking?”

The brand later removed the ad as it issued an apology promising to be more mindful in future campaigns.

It wrote: “This ad has now been removed. We are deeply sorry for the offence this has caused and will look into how we present campaigns going forward.”

Some have called for shoppers to boycott the brand in the aftermath of the criticism.

Others however, have called on the clothing outlet to launch an investigation into how the ad was approved in the first place.

One said: "This ad should never have got approval! Who gave the go ahead?"

Another wrote: "It's very concerning that it took people on social media to point out the issues with this add, and no one did in the many processes it would have gone through before being posted. Who is running these things nowadays."