The Swedish clothing giant on Monday apologised and removed the advertisement after the company came under fire on social media.
Among those who have expressed their anger and have called for a boycott of the clothing store were rappers, Cassper Nyovest, Reason, Stilo Magolide and Kwesta.
Taking to social media, Cassper told fans that they would never see him in an H&M store again. He later posted an edited version of the advert and a lengthy Instagram message hailing black people as "the kings of the world".
Somizi posted a message on Instagram declaring that he was never a fan of the brand and called for people to not buy from them. "I've never been a fan of H&M since day one they launched in South Africa. First they never had people of colour in their campaigns, even when they came to Africa. Now this. Let's show them the power of monkey rand by not buying ish from the," he said.
Minnie Dlamini was a little more blunt in her response to the advert, simply declaring: "F*ck them actually!"
Lerato Kganyago lambasted the clothing brand through a series of tweets, claiming that many black people were only brought into companies not to make decisions but to add "ambience".
The clothing giant has become the latest in a series of international brands to spark outrage over alleged 'racist' adverts.
In October last year, personal care brand Dove came under fire for airing a commercial showing a black woman turning into a white woman after removing her top. Two weeks later beauty brand Nivea was similarly accused of being racist after showing a woman instantly turning lighter when applying the lotion, while claiming that it made her feel younger.
Source: The Times
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