How do mistakes like this continue to happen?

That's the question I've asked myself too many times within the last year in reference to tone-deaf and offensive advertising and marketing campaigns. Dove, Pepsi, Audi and Nationwide are just a few major brands that have had major slip-ups within the past year with hugely controversial ads. While it's true that everyone makes mistakes, it's unacceptable for corporations with such diverse consumer bases still release ads that are seen as offensive by so many people, without seeing the mistakes themselves.

The most recent controversy arises from an H&M advertisement, where a black child model wears a "Coolest Monkey In The Jungle" sweatshirt to promote part of H&M's children's line. Other clothing items from the same line were modeled by white children.

The ad led to social media outrage. Many pointing out the obvious offense of associating a black person with a monkey, as it is known historically as a racial slur. Others saying the ad was released on purpose just for H&M to generate publicity.

Rapper G-Eazy has been working on a menswear collaboration with H&M set to release at the beginning of March, but changed his mind as a result of the controversy, saying "After seeing the disturbing image yesterday, my excitement over our global campaign quickly evaporated, and I've decided at this time our partnership needs to end." G-Eazy went on to note that whether the advertisement was simply a mistake or not, it was still unacceptable for the brand to be that insensitive.

Singer and songwriter The Weeknd also notified fans that he would be ending his collaborative work with H&M. He tweeted "Woke up this morning shocked and embarrassed by this photo. I'm deeply offended and will not be working with H&M anymore...," attaching a copy of the advertisement for reference.

H&M was quick to release an apology after the social media explosion saying “We are deeply sorry that the picture was taken, and we also regret the actual print," and committed to pulling the advertised merchandise from all of its stores, as well as investigating how the ad came to be in the first place.

In my opinion, there's no way an ad like the one released by H&M wasn't passed throughout various hands for approval and not a single person was able to see something wrong with the imagery.Either no one saw it, or no one had the nerve to speak up. I'm not sure which case is worse.

More steps need to be taken to ensure that all advertisements are evaluated or that H&M employs a diverse team of individuals that care about their customers and these issues.

All brands should do more to avoid making such major mistakes. Using ignorance or misunderstandings as excuses for wrongdoing is no longer acceptable.