H&M has withdrawn an advertisement for school uniforms featuring two young girls with the tagline “Attention-seeking” after being accused of “promoting pedophilia”.
The $29.99 school dress is Swedish retailer participates in sponsored advertising on social media In Australia.
The promotion depicts two girls who appear to be no older than 12 years old, wearing matching uniforms consisting of white shirts, dark gray pinafores, and pink bookbags.
The girls are wearing school uniforms and posing against a backdrop of what appears to be a pink decorated school bus.
The ad says, “Get noticed with H&M's Back to School fashion.”
H&M came under fire on social media for sexualizing young girls, and the company removed the ad over the weekend.
“This ad has been removed,” the company wrote on its official X account.
“We deeply apologize for causing any discomfort caused by this incident, and we will consider how to develop the campaign in the future.''
Melinda Tankard Leist, an Australian media critic and feminist voice, noticed the ad on Facebook and called the retailer.
“What is the purpose of this Facebook sponsored ad?” Tankard Leist wrote on his social media account X.
“Little schoolgirls generally don't want to be 'attention-seeking,'” the author added.
Tankard Leist told H&M, “I would like to give your marketing team a shout-out to the attention of pre-pubescent girls who are already struggling to grow up in a culture that values 'lookism' as an aspirational goal. “Come up with something that won't draw you back.”
Others on social media also agreed with the author. One X commenter accused H&M of “promoting pedophilia”.
“This is totally creepy. Please remove it,” wrote another X user.
Another commenter on X said, “Stop objectifying and sexualizing little girls. These models only look like 6 years old. Take it down.”
The Post has contacted H&M for comment.
