{"id":455259,"date":"2018-01-15T08:46:00","date_gmt":"2018-01-15T08:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ghana-mma.com\/2018\/01\/15\/hm-closes-all-its-stores-in-south-africa-after-protests\/"},"modified":"2018-01-15T08:46:00","modified_gmt":"2018-01-15T08:46:00","slug":"hm-closes-all-its-stores-in-south-africa-after-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2018\/01\/15\/hm-closes-all-its-stores-in-south-africa-after-protests\/","title":{"rendered":"H&M closes all its stores in South Africa after protests"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Renault\"\/<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

H&M stores across South Africa were shuttered Saturday. Local media reported that destructive protesters had swarmed several locations.<\/p>\n

The protesters were reacting to\u00a0an ad in which a black child wore a sweatshirt that bore the slogan \u201ccoolest monkey in the jungle.\u201d It appeared on the British version of the Swedish retailer\u2019s online store.<\/p>\n

Some social media\u00a0users\u00a0shared footage claiming to show demonstrators throwing racks of clothing to the ground. Images\u00a0show\u00a0merchandise in tangled heaps and toppled security sensors.<\/p>\n

H&M said in a statement that it\u2019s \u201caware of the recent events inside several of our South African stores,\u201d and it has \u201ctemporarily\u201d closed all stores in the country. According to the company\u2019s\u00a0website, H&M has 17 locations in South Africa.<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of our staff or customers have been injured,\u201d H&M said. \u201cWe continue to monitor the situation closely and will open the stores as soon as the situation is safe again.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ad, which has been deleted, met backlash earlier in the week when it was shared on social media. Two musicians, known as The Weeknd and G-Eazy,\u00a0cut business ties\u00a0with H&M in response. H&M issued a\u00a0statement\u00a0Monday: \u201c[W]e apologize to anyone this may have offended.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the company\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0it would also \u201cinvestigate why this happened to prevent this type of mistake from happening again.\u201d<\/p>\n

In its statement Saturday, H&M went further.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe strongly believe that racism and bias in any shape or form, deliberate or accidental, are simply unacceptable,\u201d the statement reads. \u201cWe stress that our wonderful store staff had nothing to do with our poorly judged product and image.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Source: CNN<\/p>\n

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