Parents of the young boy in the controversial H&M hoodie ad that sparked an online backlash recently do not think the message on the garment was racist.
His Kenyan mother Terry Mango, who lives in Sweden, told a UK broadcaster that to them, "The Coolest Monkey in the Jungle" slogan was nothing other than just an ad that carried no racial undertones.
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The word monkey has been used as a racial slur by some people the world over.
"I wouldn’t see such a connection to anything other than my son modelling a shirt," Terry told UK’s ITV.
She said they weren’t even aware of the slogan until it sparked an online outrage although they were present during the shoot.
"Until the controversy, you kind of look back and wonder if you had noticed it, what would be our initial or my initial response to it.”
Terry said people hold diverse opinions on what amounts to racism and to her, the message on the hoodie didn’t come across as racist.
"I know what racism is. I have had racist remarks directed at me first hand. I have been called monkey before on a cruise ship and my reaction was the same as the world is reacting to me now. But to put the word monkey and racism, maybe that is not my way of looking at it," Terry said.
In an interview with the BBC on Wednesday, Terry said she has received condemnation especially from black people who felt she was a let down by allowing racism to pass.
"They said that I sold my son," she said.
Her son Leon is part of a modelling agency in Sweden and he has participated in various other modelling shoots.
H&M has since pulled down the offending ad from its website and apologised.
The BBC said Terry and her husband Frank moved from their home in Stockholm due to security reasons over their stand on the issue.