H&M recalls socks with 'Allah' print following backlash

H&M finds itself once again in hot water after customers took offence to a pattern on socks that appeared to resemble the word Allah (God) in Arabic.

Narrated

1 min read

The New Arab

01 Feb, 2018

Twitter users were quick to call out the retail giant over the 'coincidence' [Twitter]

Clothes retailer H&M has found itself at the centre of another controversy less than a month after having apologised for the image of a black child modelling a hoodie with the slogan "coolest monkey in the jungle".

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The high-street giant was called out for the ill-use of imagery again by social media users after an image of a lego figurine drilling a pattern appeared to resemble the word Allah written in Arabic.

The incident sparked intense backlash on social media, with many deeming the print "inappropriate and insulting" to Islam and other religions.

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The retail giant recalled the range of socks following complaints.

"At H&M we always aim to offer products that we believe our customers will appreciate," a spokesperson said of the decision to remove the socks from sale.

"The print on this sock represents a Lego figurine, any other meaning is entirely coincidental, and we apologise if this motif has offended anyone."

Reactions on social media were mixed, with some praising the decision, and others criticising an 'overreaction' to scribbles.

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