political corretness in crisis communication on social media › projekter › files › 281659051...

WrittenbyAnneHøjenJustesenA qualitative case study of the Swedish clothing company H&M, and how politicalcorrectness influenced the crisis regarding “The Coolest Monkey in The Jungle” onTwitter.

M a s t e r ’ s T h e s i s i n C u l t u r e , C o m m u n i c a t i o n & G l o b a l i z a t i o n A a l b o r g U n i v e r s i t y S u p e r v i s o r : V i b e k e T h ø i s M a d s e n

PoliticalCorrectnessinCrisesonSocialMedia

AnneHøjenJustesen ‘PoliticalCorrectnessinCrisesonSocialMedia’ May31st,2018AalborgUniversity Market&Consumption Master’sThesis10thsemester Supervisor:VibekeThøisMadsen

Culture,Communication&Globalization 2

TABLEOFCONTENT

TABLEOFCONTENT...................................................................................................................................2

1.0ABSTRACT...........................................................................................................................................4

2.0INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................................6

2.1PROBLEMSTATEMENT............................................................................................................................7

3.0CASEDESCRIPTION..............................................................................................................................8

4.0THEORETICALAPPRAOCH....................................................................................................................9

4.1CRISISCOMMUNICATIONANDSOCIALMEDIA........................................................................................9

4.2STAKEHOLDERENGAGEMENT,CRISISCOMMUNICATION,ANDSOCIALMEDIA...................................12

4.3POLITICALCORRECTNESSANDSOCIALMEDIA......................................................................................14

5.0METHODOLOGICALAPPROACH.........................................................................................................18

5.1THEORYOFSCIENCE..............................................................................................................................18

5.1.1ONTOLOGICALCONSIDERATIONS..................................................................................................18

5.1.2EPISTEMOLOGICALCONSIDERATIONS...........................................................................................19

5.1.2ONTOLOGICALCONSIDERATIONS..................................................................................................21

5.2QUALITATIVEVS.QUANTITATIVE..........................................................................................................21

5.3RESEARCHDESIGN.................................................................................................................................23

5.4EMPIRICALDATA...................................................................................................................................25

5.4.1DATASAMPLING............................................................................................................................26

5.4.2ANALYTICALAPPRAOCH................................................................................................................28

6.0ANALYSIS...........................................................................................................................................34

6.1“THEH&MFIRESTORMASPERCEIVEDINADANISHCONTEXT”..........................................................................34

6.2“POLITICALCORRECTNESSINTHEH&MFIRESTORM–FROMADANISHPERSPECTIVE”...........................................46

7.0DISCUSSION.......................................................................................................................................54

8.0CONCLUSSION...................................................................................................................................56

9.0BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................................................................................................................58

10.0APPENDIXES....................................................................................................................................61



10.1APPENDIX1–TWITTER-POSTNO.1....................................................................................................61






10.7APPENDIX7–PICTUREOFTHETWOH&MHOODIES’.........................................................................64

10.8APPENDIX8–TWITTER-POSTNO.1FORTHEINTERVIEWS.................................................................64

10.9APPENDIX9–TWITTER-POSTNO.2FORTHEINTERVIEWS.................................................................65

10.10APPENDIX10–TWITTER-POSTNO3FORTHEINTERVIEWS..............................................................65

10.11APPENDIX11–TWITTER-POSTNO.4FORTHEINTERVIEWS.............................................................65

10.12APPENDIX12–H&MAPOLOGYONTWITTER....................................................................................66

10.13APPENDIX13–H&MAPOLOGYONINSTAGRAM..............................................................................68

10.14APPENDIX14–H&M’SPRECENSEONTWITTERANDINSTAGRAM...................................................70

10.15APPENDIX15–FACEBOOK-POSTRECRUITINGINTERVIEW-PARTICIPANTS.......................................71

10.16APPENDIX16–COLOR-CODING........................................................................................................72

10.17APPENDIX17–INITIALCODINGSCHEMEFORTWITTER-POSTS........................................................73

10.18APPENDIX18–INITIALCODINGSCHEMEFORINTERVIEWS..............................................................75

10.19APPENDIX19–FINALCODINGSCHEME............................................................................................82

10.20APPENDIX20–EXAMPLEOFCOLORCODESAPPLIEDONTRANCRIBEDINTERVIEW.......................109

10.21APPENDIX21–PARTICIPANTNO.1.................................................................................................114









1.0ABSTRACT

Thisthesisinvestigateshowpoliticalcorrectnessinfluencescrisesonsocialmedia.Thethesis

takes departure in a case study of the Swedish retail company H&M and its recent crisis

regardinganadvertisementofablackboymodelingahoodiewiththewords“CoolestMonkey

inTheJungle”fromJanuary,2018.

The thesis focuses on political correctness, crisis communication, and social media as the

threemainsubjects.Manyarticleshavebeenwrittenandmuchresearchhasbeenconducted

regarding political correctness, crisis communication, and social media separately. Crisis

communicationandsocialmediahavebeenstudiedinrelationtoeachotheraswell,however,

there appeared to be a knowledge gap regarding political correctness in relation to crisis

communication and social media. It therefore became relevant to study how political

correctnessinfluencescrisesonsocialmedia,asthishasnotpreviouslybeenstudied.

As the aim is to study the influence of political correctness, the ontological position social

constructionist functions as the methodological foundation for this thesis. Political

correctnessisthusviewedassomething,whichisbeingconstructedwithinthesocialcontext

itisfound.Theepistemologicalpositionforthisthesisisinterpretivism,astheempiricaldata

consistsofinterviewsandTwitter-posts.Itisthusopinionsandinterpretation,whichisbeing

studied,inrelationtoinvestigatehowpoliticalcorrectnessinfluencescrisesonsocialmedia.

Thenotionofthehermeneuticalcircleisalsotakenintoaccount,astheresearcherismoving

backandforthbetweentheunderstandingofpartsofaphenomenonandtheunderstanding

ofthephenomenoninitswhole.

Thetheoreticalapproachforthisthesistakesdepartureinaliteraturereview.Thetheoretical

section elaborates on crisis communication and socialmedia using theories fromFrandsen

andJohansen(2007)andCoombsandHolladay(2012).Furthermore,thesectionelaborates

on stakeholder engagement using theories from Luoma-aho (2015) and lastly, the section

elaboratesonpoliticalcorrectness inrelationtosocialmediausingtheories fromWikström

(2016),Szilágyi(2017),andRost,StahelandFrey(2017).

Onthebasisofathematicanalysis,itbecomesclearthatpoliticalcorrectnessinfluencescrises

onsocialmediatosomeextend.Politicalcorrectnessiscreatingacensorship,whichindicates

that people are not expressing their real thoughts and opinions on social media. In that



matter,politicalcorrectnesshasbecomeamatterofsensitivity,aspeoplearehidingbehind

political correctness. In other words, people are afraid to speak their “real” mind, which

makes issues, such as racism, a very sensitive subject. Lastly, it becomes clear that faith-

holdersofanorganizationcouldbecharacterizedassuch,withoutactivelytakingpartinthe

rhetorical arena.Additionally, theactive faith-holdersdonothesitate toverbalize theH&M

crisis,withouthidingbehindpoliticalcorrectness.

Inthatmatter, it ispossibletoarguethatpoliticalcorrectness influencedtheH&Mcrisison

social media, as the perceived use of political incorrectness and unfiltered speech is an

inflamedarea.



2.0INTRODUCTION

Organizations within the modern society have to deal with many different aspects, when

finding themselveswithin a crisis.Anew spectrumof factorshas tobe taken into account,

when it comes to crisis communication. Socialmedia is just one aspect, but onewhich has

beenmuch studied, and still continues to be - andwith very good reason, as socialmedia

takes upmore andmore space of our everyday life. Today, organizational crisesmight be

portrayedonsocialmediaplatforms,whereastheinfluenceofsocialmediaanditsuserscan

havegreat,andpossiblycritical,impactonorganizations.AccordingtoCoombsandHolladay

(2010)andtheSCCTtheory,factorssuchascrisishistoryandpriorreputationcanintensify

crises(CoombsandHolladay2010,39),andespeciallyonsocialmedia,wheremanypeople

canbecomepartoftherhetoricalarenaandthusbecomecrisiscommunicators(Frandsenand

Johansen2007,251).

WhenlookingthroughthenewsfeedonFacebook,itispossibletoseethatpeopleargueand

becomeoffensiveandrude,whenotherpeopledonotsharetheirpointofview,orifpeoplein

someway tried to test the socialnormof the socialmediaworld. It appearsas if thereare

rulesonhowtobehaveonsocialmedia,yetat thesametimesocialmedia isalso theplace

wherepeoplecanexpressandsaywhatever they feel like,withoutno furtherconsequence,

which in some cases can be offensive – people can easily post an offensive or aggressive

comment, and then quickly disappear. (Rost, Stahel and Frey 2016) Social media thus

becomesaplatform,wherepeoplecanhidebehindtheirprofilebehindthescreen.

“TheInternethashadasignificanteffectoncorporatecommunication.”(CoombsandHolladay,

2010, 379). The role of social media’s relation to organizational crises has been a widely

investigated topic. With the constant development of the Internet, it is given that

communicationonsocialmediadevelopsalongsidetheInternet,whichthusalsoincludesthe

crisiscommunicationandthedifferentaspectsofitthattakesplaceonsocialmedia.

Many scientific research papers have been conducted, in order to study the field of crisis

communication,socialmedia,andthetwoareascombined.Asmentionedabove,manyfactors

can intensify crises on social media. A literature review for this study found that political

correctness in relation to crises on socialmedia had not been studied. So far, the topic of

politicalcorrectnesshasbeenstudiedby,forinstance,Dr.AnnaSzilagyi,whostudiedtheuse



of political correctness in political speeches (Szilágyi 2017). Peter Wikström studied the

positivity of political correctness in Twitter-conversations, and argued that political

correctness is often associatedwith somethingnegative. In otherwords, he argued thatno

one is pro-political correctness, meaning that no one favors to be politically correct. That

contradictswiththenotionmadebyDr.AnnaSzilagyi,sayingthatpeoplehidebehindpolitical

correctness.

Politicalcorrectnessthusappearstobeverypresentonsocialmedia.Socialmediaisagreat

partofpeople’severydaylife,andanimportantfactorinorganizationalcrisiscommunication,

it therefore becomes relevant to study the influence of political correctness, in order for

organizationstobeabletounderstandhowtodealwithitasanexternalfactorduringcrises.

2.1PROBLEMSTATEMENT

On the basis of the introduction made above, the following problem statement have been

constructed:

Ø Howdoespoliticalcorrectnessinfluenceacrisisonsocialmediaforan

organization?



3.0CASEDESCRIPTION

ThecaseforthisthesishasitsbasisinthecasewithH&M,aglobalclothing-retailcompany,

seated in Sweden, and it’s recent marketing on its British web shop. The advertisement

showedablackchildmodelingahoodiewithaprinted text saying “CoolestMonkey inThe

Jungle”. In the same series of clothes, awhite childwasmodeling a hoodiewith thewords

“Survival Expert”. The advertisement caused an online firestorm, and made H&M’s

stakeholders turn to Twitter to express their frustration and anger overH&M. Some posts

showed both images placed next to each other, making the distinction greater. The

organizationquicklymovedtheimagefromthewebshopandallotheronlineplatforms,and

postedanapology.Laterontheorganizationchosetowithdrawtheitem,anditistherefore

notpossibletopurchasethehoodieanymore.

However, despite an apology and the withdrawal of the hoodie, the online firestorm

continued to expand. Several famous personalities also turned to Twitter to express their

thoughts about the H&M advertisement. Amongst these were the Canadian singer The

WeekndandtheAmericanrapperG-Eazy.Theybothhadcollaborationswiththeorganization,

whichtheythuschosetoend.(SoundVenue.dk2018)OnTwitter,H&Mwasaccusedofbeing

racist,andthepostsrelatedtothesituationkeptgrowing.Furthermore,H&MstoresinSouth

Africa were attacked by angry stakeholders, which caused the company to shut down its

storesinthearea.

Onthebasisofthesocialmediacommentsregarding“TheCoolestMonkeyinTheJungle”,the

parentsoftheblackchildturnedtothemediatotelltheirsideofthestory.Inrelationtothat,

themotherofthechildtoldthemediaandotherpeople,whoaccusedH&Mofracism,tocalm

down.

H&Mhaspreviouslybeenpointedoutinonlinefirestormsandintraditionalmedia.Thelatest

episodeincludestheorganizationsburningof12tonsofclothesayearinDenmarkfrom2013

to2017(Berlingske.dk2017).



4.0THEORETICALAPPRAOCH

This theoretical section will function as a literature review. It will elaborate on relevant

literature,whichwillprovidethetheoreticalfoundationforthethesis.Thetheorywillprovide

insight into crisis communication and socialmedia, alongwith a theoretical section,which

elaborates on political correctness, in order to be able to identify the phenomenon in the

analyticalsection,anditsrelationtocrisesonsocialmedia.

4.1CRISISCOMMUNICATIONANDSOCIALMEDIA

Finn Frandsen and Winni Johansen (2007) distinguish between a narrow and a wide

perceptionofcrisiscommunication(FrandsenandJohansen2007,15).

The narrow perception defines crisis communication as the type of communication that is

beingusedduring acrisis.Acrisis isperceivedasanevent,and focus isondamagecontrol

(Frandsen and Johansen 2007, 15). Additionally, the narrow perception views crisis

communication as sender oriented, and as a tool,whichprovides information.Moreover, it

hasanoperationalapproachtowardscrisiscommunication,meaningthatthecommunication

management has a prescription on how to handle a crisis. Frandsen and Johansen (2007)

refertoitasa”how-to”approach(FrandsenandJohansen2007,16).

Thewideperceptionofcrisiscommunicationisalsoconcernedwithwhathappensduringa

crisis, but is additionally concerned about the pre- and post-crisis phases (Frandsen and

Johansen2007,16).Thewideperceptionisthereforefocusingonpreventionofcrisesandon

the post-crisis phase as a process of learning. Moreover, the wide perception views crisis

communication as both sender- and receiver oriented. Thismeans that several actors take

part inthecrisiscommunication(FrandsenandJohansen2007,17).Thiscould for instance

includemediacoverageofacrisis,stakeholdercommunicationonsocialmedia,andofcourse

both.AccordingtoFrandsenandJohansen(2007)itiswithinthewideperceptionthatcrisis

communicationactuallybecomescrisiscommunication,asfocusisuponimageandreputation

(Frandsen and Johansen2007, 17). In otherwords, thismeans that thewideperceptionof

crisiscommunicationdoesnothaveacorrectordeterminedmethodofhandlingacrisis,as

”everycommunications-problemisinthelastinstanceunique” (Frandsenand Johansen2007,

17–owntranslation).



On thebasisof thenarrowand thewideperceptionof crisis communication,Frandsenand

Johansen (2007) offer a newapproach to crisis communication andhave thus conducted a

communicationmodel,whichtheycall ”therhetoricalarena”(FrandsenandJohansen2007,

251). The model focuses on the complex process of crisis communication and the many

voices,whicheithercommunicatesto,with,against,past,orabouteachother.Thisiswhatthe

authors refer to as “a multi-vocal approach” (Frandsen and Johansen 2007, 252 – own

translation).

When a crisis occurs, a rhetorical arena opens up, and all actors, who participate in the

communication regarding the crisis, become crisis communicators (Frandsen and Johansen

2007,275).Moreover,therhetoricalarenadoesnotclosewhenthecrisisisover.Thisrelates

to thewideperceptionof crisis communication,where thepre- andpost-communication is

also given attention. This furthermoremeans that crisis communication needs to consider

both the communication from the organizations in crisis, and the communication from the

manyactorswithintherhetoricalarena.

Frandsen and Johansen (2007) note that the rhetorical arena opens up before the crisis

becomes an “actual” crisis. (Frandsen and Johansen 2007, 275) This is what Coombs and

Holladay (2012) refer to as aparacrisis. ”Aparacrisis is likeacrisis” (Coombs andHolladay

2012,408),andposesathreattotheorganization’sreputation(CoombsandHolladay2012,

410). Coombs and Holladay (2012) defines a paracrisis as ”a publicly visible threat that

chargesanorganizationwithirresponsibleorunethicalmanner”(CoombsandHolladay2012,

409). If stakeholdersbelieve thatanorganizationhasacted inanunethicalor irresponsible

manner,theorganization’sreputationcanbedamaged(CoombsandHolladay2012,410).As

mentionedabove,theparacrisisisperceivedasathreat,andwillfirstbeconsideredacrisis,

whenagreatvarietyof stakeholdersare takingpart in theconcern. Inaddition to that, the

authors note that ”social media is potentially public” (Coombs and Holladay 2010, 409),

meaningthatpeoplemightseewhatsomeonepostsonsocialmediaandtheymightnotseeit.

Peopleseethecontentiftheyareeitherconnectedtothecreatorofthecontent,forinstance,

followingacertainorganizationorpersononTwitter,oriftheyactivelysearchforthespecific

content. (CoombsandHolladay2012,409)Eventhough it ispossible thatanorganization’s

stakeholders might not even see the crisis-oriented content that is being posted on social

media, the potential publicity should still be addressed, in order to keep the crisis from

escalating(CoombsandHolladay2012,409).Hence,socialmediacanintensifyaparacrisis,as



itworkswithshortquickmessages,whichcangainagreatamountofattention(Coombsand

Holladay 2012, 411).Moreover, ifmessages regarding the paracrisis are portrayed in both

socialandtraditionalmedia,morepeopleareexposedtothecrisis,andmorepotentialactors

could enter the rhetorical arena and thus become crisis communicators (Coombs and

Holladay2012, 411). This is also the case, if amessage is echoed in socialmedia,which is

whenothersrepeatamessageonsocialmedia(CoombsandHolladay2012,411).

According to Coombs and Holladay (2012), social media becomes a perfect and preferred

platform for stakeholders to present the organization’s challenges and to express their

thoughts regarding the organization’s actions. Social media is thus a great communication

tool. (Coombs and Holladay 2012, 408) In their article, they present three communicative

strategies forutilization,whendealingwithaparacrisis:refute,reform, andrefuse (Coombs

andHolladay2012,412).

Refute iswhenmanagersfightbackanddefendtheorganization.Thiscanoftenescalatethe

crisis, as the stakeholders already feel that the organization has acted irresponsible or

unethical. However, an organization canmake use of the refute strategy, if it believes that

otherstakeholderswillsupporttheorganization.(CoombsandHolladay2012,412)Thistype

ofstakeholderiswhatLuoma-aho(2015)definesas‘faith-holders’(Luoma-aho2015,9).An

elaborationon faith-holdersand stakeholderengagementwill follow lateron in section4.2

StakeholderEngagement,CrisisCommunication,andSocialMedia.

Reformiswhenmanagersmeetthedemandsandexpectationsofitsstakeholders,inrelation

tothecrisis.Theorganizationrecognizesitsirresponsibleorunethicalbehavior,andcanthus

meetthedemandsofitsstakeholdersintwopossibleways–animplicitorexplicitrecognition

oftheproblem(CoombsandHolladay2012,412).Theimplicitreformstrategy, iswhenthe

management”acknowledges[that]pastbehaviorswereincorrectbychangingthosebehaviors”

(Coombs and Holladay 2012, 412). The stakeholders’ demands are therefore being

incorporatedintotheorganization’sfutureoperations.Withtheexplicitreformstrategy,the

managersalsorecognizetheorganization’sirresponsibleorunethicalbehaviorandadmitthe

wrongdoing, ”andworktocorrectthesituation” (CoombsandHolladay2012,412). Inother

words,newoperationalstrategiesarenotimpliedintotheorganization’sfuture.

“Refuse is when management does not acknowledge the challenge” (Coombs and Holladay

2012, 413). Managers ignore the problems, hoping that it will ”disappear(s) due to lack of



attention” (Coombs and Holladay 2012, 413). The organization can thus choose to

communicate matters that will boost its reputation. The positive information should then

overrule the negative, and managers are thus depending on its faith-holders – those

stakeholderswhosupporttheorganization(CoombsandHolladay2012,413).

Whenaddressingsocialmediaandcrisiscommunication,CoombsandHolladay(2012)states

threesocialmediarules,whendealingwithaparacrisis.Theorganizationsmustbewherethe

actionis;meaningthatitshouldrespondtothecrisisonthemediumthecrisishasemerged

(Coombs and Holladay 2012, 413). Moreover, the organization should be present on social

mediabeforethecrisisoccurs.Thismeansthattheorganizationshouldnotusesocialmediato

respond to the crisis, if it has not used the type of medium before. As an example, the

organizationneedsfollowersonTwitter,ifanyoneshouldreceiveitsmessages.Hence,itwill

bemeaningless for theorganizationtocommunicateonsocialmedia, if it isnotestablished

there beforehand (Coombs and Holladay 2012, 413). Lastly, the organization should ”be

redundantandsprawl” (CoombsandHolladay2012,414).Thismeans that theorganization

shouldusebothsocialmediaandtraditionalmediatoaddressthecrisis.Itisimportantthat

the organization attempts to use as many channels as possible that are overlapping each

other.However,theorganizationstillhastohaveinmindwhereitstargetgroupis,inorderto

effectivelycommunicateitsmessages.(CoombsandHolladay2012,414)

4.2STAKEHOLDERENGAGEMENT,CRISISCOMMUNICATION,ANDSOCIALMEDIA

As mentioned earlier, this section will also elaborate on social media and stakeholder

engagement.Luoma-aho(2015)haswrittenanarticle,whereshedistinguishesbetweenthree

types of stakeholders. With social media and the online environment as a major

communications platform, it is important for organizations to understand the different

stakeholdersandtheirroleinrelationtocrises(Luoma-aho2015,2).

The three types of stakeholders are divided into faith-holders,hateholders, and fakeholders.

This theoretical sectionwill not be focusing on fakeholders, as that type of stakeholder, is

“artificially generated by either individuals or persona-creating software and algorithms”

(Luoma-aho 2015, 13). Fakeholders are therefore difficult to identify, as they appear as a



person or organization. This thesis do not aim to investigate fakeholders and how these

influence crisis communication on social media, and based on the above-mentioned, will

thereforenotfurtherelaborateonfakeholders.

Faith-holdersarethestakeholders,whopositivelyengageinanorganizationand“supportit

via their beliefs, emotionsandbehaviours” (Luoma-aho 2015, 9). The faith-holders are very

important to an organization, especially during a crisis, as they can keep the crisis from

escalating.With their positive experiences and feelings towards the organization, the faith-

holdersareviewedastheorganizationalsocialcapital.Thatisaswellveryimportantduringa

crisis(Luoma-aho2015,9).Luoma-aho(2015)furthermorenotesthatitisimportantforan

organization tomaintain andnurse its existing stakeholders, because theywill recruit new

stakeholders. Positive word of mouth and recommendations from faith-holders will also

encourage new stakeholders to consume, and as existing faith-holders are already great

consumers, their actions become very valuable for an organization (Luoma-aho 2015, 11).

Stakeholder engagement must be public in order to be valuable for the organization, and

socialmedia isaverysuitableplatform for forthbringingpositiveengagement (Luoma-aho

2015, 11). In relation to the faith-holder concept, Luoma-aho (2015) notes that the faith-

holderscanturnintohateholders–thatisifthefaith-holders’needsandexpectationsarenot

metbytheorganization(Luoma-aho2015,11).

Hateholders “are the negatively engaged stakeholders who dislike or hate the brand or the

organization and harm it via their behaviours” (Luoma-aho 2015, 11). Hateholding often

occurs because of anger, and when the hateholder has a clear target to focus its anger

towards. It is important fororganizations toconsiderand focusonhateholders,asnegative

posts online, for instance posts on social media, are considered to be more reliable than

positivereports.(Luoma-aho2015,11)

Asmentionedearlier,contentonsocialmediaspreadsfast,andnegativecommentsandposts

canhavegreatnegativeconsequences foranorganization.Even if thesepostsorcomments

are just from one single individual, they can damage the organization, when the online

environment is taken into account (Luoma-aho 2015, 12). Remembering that Coombs and

Holladay(2012)arguethatwhenasocialmessageisechoedonsocialmedia,morepeopleare

exposedtoit(CoombsandHolladay2012,411).Insuchsituations,anorganization’sformer,



andpossiblyforgotten,crisiscanbebroughtupbythehateholders,astheInternet“servesasa

collectivememory”(Luoma-aho2015,12).

Asmuch as hateholders andwhat they embody is negatively loaded, they can also be very

valuabletoanorganization.Theyoftenshedlightonneglectedproblems,andthusremindthe

organization tobeaware. (Luoma-aho2015,13)Somehateholders can thusbe turned into

faith-holders,iftheorganizationmeetstheirneedsandmake“peace”(Luoma-aho2015,12).

Itisthereforeespeciallyimportantfororganizationstoconsiderstakeholderengagementon

social media during a crisis. Meeting the needs and expectations of the faith-holders are

important, as they thenwill support the organization during a crisis, or prevent the crisis

from escalating. Moreover, it is also important to meet the needs and demands of the

hateholdersduringacrisis,astheorganizationthenhasthepossibilitytoturnthenintofaith-

holders.

4.3POLITICALCORRECTNESSANDSOCIALMEDIA

Whensearchingforliteraturethataddressespoliticalcorrectnessandcrisiscommunication,

itwasmostlyarticlesregardingpoliticalcommunicationorpoliticalspeech,whichappeared

fromthesearchresults.However,asthetheoreticalapproachencompassesanelaborationon

crisis communication itself, it is possible to create a connection between that and political

correctness, and thus on the basis of the thesis be able to conclude on how political

correctness influences crises on socialmedia.When searching for literature that addresses

political correctness and social media, it is possible to see that many writers have said

something about it.Manyarticleshavebeenwritten, but few scientific ones.Moreover, the

connectionmadewithpoliticalcorrectnessisoftenwithpoliticians,andnotmuchwithsocial

media. However, Peter Wikström (2016) has conducted a study, in which he attempts to

portray political correctness on the social media Twitter, in a positive manner (Wikström

2016).Wikström’s (2016) study does not take crisis communications into account, but his

focus on Twitter and political correctness on social media, can assist in the theoretical

approachofthisthesis.

Wikström (2016) argues that diversity, tolerance, and multiculturalism are phenomena,

which often are associatedwith political correctness (Wikström 2016, 165). In addition to



that,Dr.AnnaSzilágyi(2017)definespoliticalcorrectnessassomething,which“functionsasa

neutral, descriptive reference to the principles of avoiding utterances and actions that can

marginalize or offend certain groups of people” (Szilágyi 2017). In this manner, political

correctnessstandveryneutralandassomethingpeoplecanchosetouse,iftheyfeeltheneed

to avoid offending other people. However, political correctness is often associated with

something negative. During Wikström’s (2016) study, he found that political correctness

could functionasacensorship,meaningthatpeoplecouldhidetheir”real thoughts”, if they

wereexpressing themselvespolitical correct (Wikström2016,168). Szilágyi (2017)applies

the same word, when analyzing politicians’ use of political correctness in speeches. She

argues thatpoliticalcorrectness isacensorship,which takesaway the freespeech(Szilágyi

2017).Peoplearenotexpressingtheirrealfeelingsorthoughtsaboutacertainsubjectorthe

like,becausepoliticalcorrectnessislimiting.Additionally,ifpeoplethenweretoexpresstheir

real thoughts or feelings, they could, for instance, be accused of being racists. In further

relationtopoliticalcorrectnessasacensorship,italsofunctionsasdeception.Thismeansthat

when political correctness is being used as a censorship, it also functions as a deception,

whichmakesactualproblemsbecometaboo(Szilágyi2017).Inotherwords,thismeansthat

people are using political correctness to “”cover-upproblems”,ofwhichpeopleare “sickof””

(Szilágyi2017).Additionally,politicalcorrectnesscanbeseenasanobsession,whereSzilágyi

(2017) notes that critics of political correctness argue that people are using political

correctnesstoapointwhereithasbecometoomuch,andwherethephenomenonaretaking

overpeopleslogicalsense(Szilágyi2017).

Furthermore,Szilágyi(2017)notesthe”correctness”inpoliticalcorrectness.Shearguesthat

the word ”correctness” indicates that there is a particular and right way to do something

(Szilágyi 2017), which thus determines what people can say or do. In that sense, political

correctness, if not being applied, canmake people fell as if they are being talked down to

(Szilágyi 2017). Moreover, she portrays political correctness as an obsession and thereby

arguesthatitisbeingusedtooften(Szilágyi2017).Itisimportanttohaveinmindthatthese

statementsofpoliticalcorrectness,whichSzilágyi(2017)pointsout,arebasedonpoliticians

discreditingpoliticalcorrectness.However,thestatementsgiveaproperinsightintopolitical

correctnessandhowitisbeingused.



In relation to political correctness and social media, Wikström (2016) notes that political

correctness isveryevident in thesocialnetworkingera,andespecially inrelationto“social

mediamovementsforsocialjustice”(Wikström2016,160).

NotingWikström´s(2016)findingsregardingpoliticalcorrectnessasacensorshipitbecomes

relevant to discuss the social norm in the online environment. Katja Rost, Lea Stahel, and

Bruno S. Frey (2016) conducted a research article, where they studied the influence of

anonymity and social norm in online firestorms. They note that negative comments and

online aggression have become more publicly visible, and that social media enforces the

possibilityforuserstoexpresstheiraggressioneverywhereatanytime(Rost,StahelandFrey

2017, 1-2).On socialmedia theusers can sneakoff afterposting an aggressiveornegative

comment,whichpossiblycanbeassociatedwiththepossibilityofanonymity.However,Rost

et al. (2016)argue, “individualshavestrongmotivationforbeingnon-anonymouswhenbeing

aggressiveinsocialmedia” (Rost,StahelandFrey2017,2).Hence,bynotbeinganonymous,

people are increasing their trustworthiness (Rost, Stahel and Frey 2017, 5). Anonymous

commentsdonotimpactpersonalopinionsasmuchasnon-anonymouscomments,aspeople

cannotrelatetotheanonymity,andcanthereforenotidentifythemselveswiththestatement

postedinthecomment(Rost,StahelandFrey2017,6).Furthermore,peopleonsocialmedia

havenothingtohide,thustheircommentswillnotbeanonymous.Thisisduetoabeliefthat

”theystandupforhigher-ordermoralidealsandprinciples”(Rost,StahelandFrey2017,13).

When people post negative or aggressive comments on social media, it is a response to a

perception of a violated behavior (Rost, Stahel and Frey 2017, 3). If an organization is not

behavingaccording to thesocialnormsof theonlinemediaand itsparticipants,peoplewill

attempttoupholdthesocialnormbydisapprovingthebehavior(Rost,StahelandFrey2017,

2).Normsareconsideredsocial,whentheyaresharedbyotherpeopleandmaintainedwhen

thesepeopleapproveordisapprovesomething(Rost,StahelandFrey2017,2).Socialmedia

isaplacefordigitalsocialnormenforcement,whichisbeingconstructedbythecommentsof

onlinefirestorms(Rost,StahelandFrey2017,13).

Whenpublicfiguresexpresssomething(inpublic),whichisconsideredwrong,thereappears

tobeatendencytoturntowardssocialmedia,inordertocommentonthecertainbehavior.

Heidi Herzogenrath-Amelung (2016) refers to a situation, where a scientist spoke about

women in science,making a notion that they did not belong in the laboratory. This notion



madepeopleturntoTwitter,whichthencreatedanonlinefirestorm(Herzogenrath-Amelung

2016,1080).Herzogenrath-Amelung(2016)makestheinterestingnotionofhowwhatmight

be seen as wrong not necessarily equals incorrect (Herzogenrath-Amelung 2016, 1082).

However, “thecorrectoftentendstoobscurethetrue:wherewedon’trecognisethecorrectas

being only ‘partially true’, this partial truth tends to be taken for thewhole truth, and those

aspects of the truth that correctness does not cover are lost.” (Herzogenrath-Amelung 2016,

1082). Inotherwords,what is political correct to sayordo,mightnotnecessarilybe true.

However, there is some sort of paradox online, due to an expectation of people behaving

according to the social norms of the online media and its participant, yet the freedom of

speech,theexpectationofpeopletellingthetruth,andtheuseofjokesoftencollidewiththe

political correctness. Furthermore, remembering the unfortunate episode with scientist

mentionedabove,thepoliticalcorrectnessofhisstatement(orthepoliticalincorrectness,so

to speak) created an online firestorm on Twitter, even though his statement wasmade at

conferenceinKoreaandnotonsocialmedia.Inrelationtothat,theroleoftheInternetthus

becomes of great interest, as, according to Rost et al. (2017), people do not wish to be

anonymousonsocialmediawhenbeingaggressive.However,thereappearstobeadifference

betweenwhatyousayonlineandwhatyousaytoaperson face-to-face.Nooneconfronted

thescientistattheconference,whenheclaimedthatwomendidnotbelonginscience–the

confrontation only happened online, behind a screen. (Herzogenrath-Amelung 2016,

1081+1086)



5.0METHODOLOGICALAPPROACH

Themethodologicalsectionof this thesisconsistsofanelaborationof theoryofscience, the

researchdesignandanaccountofempiricaldata.Themethodologicalsectionfunctionsasa

guidelineforconductingthisthesis.

5.1THEORYOFSCIENCE

This section provides an elaboration on the ontological and epistemological considerations

forthisthesis.Theoryofscienceinformsthereadersofastudyhowtheresearcherviewsthe

world, and thushowknowledge is constructed.Hence, theontological sectionof this thesis

willentailconsiderationsof“thenaturesocialphenomena”(Bryman2012,6),andinthiscase

how theyareaproductof social interactions.Theepistemological sectionof the thesiswill

thenentailconsiderationsofhowtostudythesocialworldandthuscreateknowledge.

5.1.1ONTOLOGICALCONSIDERATIONS

When writing this thesis, the ontological orientation takes the position of social

constructionism.

Constructionismviewstheworld,socialphenomena,theirinstitutions,andmeaningsasbeing

constructed by social actors; thus, they are socially constructed, and constructionism is

thereforeoftenreferredtoassocialconstructionism(Bryman2012,33).Additionally,social

phenomenaareconstantlydeveloping.Whenlookingatsocialconstructionismfromacultural

perspective, the values and norms of a culture are agreed upon and not determined and

command-like. In other words, humans themselves are constructing their meanings and

actions.Inthatmatter,thisthesisviewstheworldassociallyconstructedbyhumans.

Whentakingontheconstructionistparadigm,theresearcherisnotabletofreeoneselffrom

his orher own social reality (Bryman2012, 34). Thenatural sciences imply the fact that a

researcher should be able to stay objective and free from his or her social reality when

conducting a study (Wenneberg 2002, 4). In Wenneberg’s (2002) article about social

constructionism, he argueshow it candeconstruct the traditional sciences, yet at the same

timefunctionasthefoundationofanewwayofunderstandingknowledge(Wenneberg2002,

3). Social constructionism is thus deconstructing the natural sciences by saying that the



researcherscannotbefreefromtheirownsocialreality,whichthenquestionedthetruthof

theknowledge thatwasbeingdiscovered(Wenneberg2002,4-5). In thatmatter, the terms

transparency and trustworthiness becomes important to a social researcher. Transparency

and trustworthiness will occur throughout this thesis, as an elaboration on the research

design,thedataset,thecollectionofit,andtheanalyticalapproachwillbeprovided.Inthat

matter, the methodological section provides an account for and elaboration on how the

differentsectionsofthethesisarebeingcarriedout.

Constructionism views categories and their meaning as something constructed through

interactions (Bryman 2012, 34). In other words, social constructionism views social

phenomenaasaproductofsocialinteractions(Bryman2012,6).Accordingtothat,political

correctnessisthusconstructedthroughsocialinteractionsregardingwhatispoliticalcorrect

or not. Additionally, the phenomenon is then continuously being constructed through the

interactionsonforinstancesocialmedia.Politicalcorrectnessanditsmeaninginrelationto

crisiscommunicationonsocialmediaisthensomething,whichisbeingconstructedthrough

the interactions of H&M’s stakeholders in relation to “The Coolest Monkey in the Jungle”.

Social constructionism will thus provide an understanding of how political correctness

influencesacrisisonsocialmedia,whichistheaimofthisthesis.

5.1.2EPISTEMOLOGICALCONSIDERATIONS

“Anepistemologicalissueconcernsthequestionofwhatis(orshouldbe)regardedasacceptable

knowledgeinadiscipline”(Bryman2012,27).Withintheepistemologicalorientationyoucan

finddifferentpositions,whichdefineshowknowledgeiscreated.

It is appropriate to consider theposition of interpretivismas the orientationof this thesis.

Writers,who take thepositionof interpretivism, “shareaviewthatthesubjectmatterofthe

socialsciencesisfundamentallydifferentfromthatofthenaturalsciences”(Bryman2012,28),

thus allowing some sort of subjectivity. Interpretivism views people and their institutions

differentfromthenaturalsciences.Hence,asaresearchprocedurethatseesandreflectsthe

differencesofhumansandthenaturalorder.Withpositivismthereisabeliefthatthereisa

realityseparatefromhuman’sdepictionofreality.Inotherwords,thismeansthatthereisan

externalrealityandasocialreality,yetonlytheexternalrealityisconsideredandstudiedby



the scientist, because humans could ‘contaminate’ the knowledge with their meanings,

interestsandthelike(Wenneberg2002,4).Theresearcherandtherealityarethusseparate

withinthepositionofpositivism.Withinterpretivism,realityandresearcherareinseparable.

(Bryman2012,28-30)

As the focus of this thesis is to investigate how political correctness influences a crisis on

social media, I will be studying meanings and interpretations. In that matter, I find

interpretivism as the appropriate orientation towards the thesis. Additionally, the

employmentofhermeneuticsisverysuitableinunderstandingandinterpretingtheempirical

data.“Hermeneuticsisseenbyitsmodernadvocatesasastrategythathaspotentialinrelation

both to texts, as documents, and to social actions (…)” (Bryman 2012, 560). However, when

combining interpretivismandhermeneutics, themethodofworkingwithdataand creating

knowledgeisreferredtoasthehermeneuticcircle.Whenworkingthroughthehermeneutic

circle, the researcher is moving back and forth between the understanding of parts of a

phenomenonandtheunderstandingofaphenomenonin itswhole(CollinandKøppe2014,

233). In relation to this thesis, this will be a moving back and forth between the

understandingofpoliticalcorrectnessanditsrelationtoH&M’s“TheCoolestMonkeyinthe

Jungle” crisis on social media as the whole. Thus, working hermeneutically can help gain

knowledgeandanunderstandingof thephenomenonofpoliticalcorrectness inrelations to

theH&Mcrises.Moreover,itcreatesanunderstandingoftheinfluencesocialmediamayhave

hadon the crisis.The thesis aims to interpret andunderstand the social actions that social

mediaandpoliticalcorrectnesscreates(Bryman2012,30).

Whenapplyinginterpretivismandthenotionofthehermeneuticcircleastheepistemological

paradigm to this thesis, the interpretation will be upon the human actions within the

empirical data (Bryman 2012, 28). The empirical data will continuously be worked with

throughout this thesis. By working within the interpretivist paradigm, a development of

understandingandknowledgeofhowpoliticalcorrectnessinfluencesacrisisonsocialmedia

willtakeplace.



5.1.2ONTOLOGICALCONSIDERATIONS

After discussing the epistemological considerations, an elaboration on the ontological

considerations will follow. When talking about ontology, two positions – objectivism and

constructionism–aredistinguishedbetween.

Objectivism view social phenomena as something that is external to humans, and as

somethingthathumanscannotinfluence,andthusisoutoftheirreach(Bryman2012,32).In

other words, if one takes a cultural aspect of objectivism, cultures has shared values and

norms,whichpeoplesocializeinto,inordertofunctionwithinasocietyoraworkplace.The

cultures limitpeople,as it issomething,whichtheycannot influence,andit thusbecomesa

sortofcommand.(Bryman2012,33)

The opposite position to objectivism is constructionism. The view here is that social

phenomena, their institutions, andmeanings are being constructed by social actors; hence,

they are socially constructed (Bryman 2012, 33). Social phenomena are constantly

developing. If we again take a cultural aspect, the values and norm of a culture are more

agreeduponthandeterminedandcommand-like. Inotherwords,humansandtheiractions

arebeingconstructedbyhumansthemselves.Whentakingontheconstructionistparadigm,I

willnot,asaresearcher,beabletofreemyselffrommyownsocialreality(Bryman2012,34).

However,Iwillremainasobjectiveaspossiblewhenconductingmythesis.

Constructionism views categories and their meaning as something constructed through

interactions (Bryman 2012, 34). According to that, political correctness is thus something,

which is constructed through the interactions of H&M’s stakeholders in relation to “The

CoolestMonkey in the Jungle”. As theaim is to investigatehowpolitical correctnessmight

enhanceacrisisonsocialmedia,interpretationandconstructionismwillbeabletoguidethis

studywell. Thesepositions result in the empirical databeingqualitative.An elaborationof

thatwillfollowinthenextsection.

5.2QUALITATIVEVS.QUANTITATIVE

Roughly, thedistinctionbetweenqualitativeandquantitative researchstrategies is that the

quantitativemethodappliesmeasurementsornumbersasdata,and thequalitativemethod



applieswordsandmeanings(Bryman2012,35).However,thedistinctiongoesfurtherthan

that.We also see a differencewithin the epistemological and ontological orientations. The

qualitativeresearchmethodemploysthepositionofinterpretivism,whereasthequantitative

research method employs positivism within the epistemological orientations. Within the

ontological orientation, the qualitative research method employs the position of

constructionism,andthequantitativeresearchmethodemploysobjectivism.(Bryman2012,

36)

Thedata,whichwascollectedandanalyzedforthisthesis,consistedofqualitativedata.The

data consisted of collected Twitter-posts concerning “The Coolest Monkey in the Jungle”,

alongwithsemi-structuredinterviewswithH&Mcustomers.Anelaborationoftheempirical

datawillfollowlateron.

Differentresearchmethodsareassociatedwithqualitativeresearch.Ethnographyisamethod

tocollectdatabyobservinginasocialsetting,inordertounderstandacertaingroupandits

culture (Bryman 2012, 383). A further developed edition of the ethnographic research

methodisRobertV.Kozinets’ ‘netnography’from2002.Netnographyisanonlinemarketing

researchtechnique,wheretheresearcherobservesonlinecommunities(Kozinets2002,61).

From Kozinets’ (2002) netnography, the use of “providing trustworthy interpretation” and

“researchethics”willbeappliedinthemethodologyofthisthesis,andanelaborationofthose

canbeundersection5.4.2.1and5.4.2.2.

Themethodofnetnographyhasbeenapplied,asthisthesisenteredtheonlinecommunityof

Twitter to collect posts concerning the H&M crisis “The Coolest Monkey in the Jungle”.

Furthermore, the method of interviewing was applied. The interviews consisted of semi-

structured interviews, where the aim was to seek and obtain knowledge and an

understanding of how the participant perceived political correctness and how it might

influence a crisis on socialmedia.Hence, a qualitative researchmethodwill be applied.An

elaboration on semi-structured interviewand its employmentwithin this thesiswill follow

undersection5.4.1.1.

Qualitative and quantitative research methods differ in their process. The process of the

quantitativeresearchmethodemploysadeductivestrategy,fromwhichtheresearchertestsa

theory, inorder toeitherverifyor falsify it.Theprocessof thequalitativeresearchmethod



employsaninductivestrategy,whichinvolvesthegenerationoftheories.(Bryman2012,36)

Theaimofthethesiswastoinvestigatehowpoliticalcorrectness influencescrisesonsocial

media;hencetheinductivestrategywillbeemployed.Theliterature,whichhavestudiedwhat

factors can affect an online firestorm, such as H&M’s crisis on Twitter, does not include a

review of political correctness. This means that this thesis generated a theory of such

(Bryman2012,36).

Lastly, it is important to argue that when carrying out a research, it is not possible to

exclusivelybeinductiveordeductive(Bryman2012,26).Asthisthesisemployedthenotion

ofthehermeneuticcircle,ithasmovedbackandforthbetweenthedifferentelementsofthe

study,therebyportrayinganiterativeprocess.

5.3RESEARCHDESIGN

Inorderto investigatewhetherpoliticalcorrectnessmightenhanceacrisisonsocialmedia,

thisthesiswillbeconductingacase-studyresearchontheScandinavianretailcompanyH&M

andthecrisisconcerningtheuseofablackchildwearingasweatshirtwiththewords“Coolest

MonkeyintheJungle”.Thecasewillbereferredtoas“TheCoolestMonkeyintheJungle”.

According to Bent Flyvbjerg (2006), a case study is “a detailed examination of a single

example” (Flyvbjerg 2006, 2). It is thus possible to argue that this thesis conducted a case

study, asH&M’s crisis on socialmedia is a single example. Furthermore, an examinationof

posts on the socialmedia Twitter and the reactions to “The CoolestMonkey in the Jungle”

withinthatcommunityhavebeenconducted.AccordingtoRobertK.Yinandhisbookoncase

study research from 2009, more factors need to be considered, when dealing with case

studies. In order to identify a research strategy and design as a case study, the researcher

needstolookatthetypeofresearchquestionbeingposed(Yin2009,8-9).AccordingtoYin

(2009), ‘that’-questionsentailthequestionofwho,where,howmuch,andhowmany,which

servesasanexploratoryresearch(Yin2009,9).ForthattypeofresearchYin(2009)argues

that surveys or archival analysis functions as the best strategy (Yin 2009, 9). Hence,

suggesting that other questions need to be asked,when applying case study as a strategy.

Thesequestionsare ‘how’and ‘why’questionsandaremoreexplanatory,whichmakes the

strategyofeitheracasestudy,history,orexperimentamoresuitablestrategy(Yin2009,9).



Inordertoexplainthedistinctionbetweencasestudy,history,andexperiments,Yin(2009)

setsup twoadditional factors.The first factor iswhether “controloverbehavioralevents” is

required,andthesecondfactor,iswhetherthefocusisoncontemporaryorhistoricalevents

(Yin2009,8).Acasestudydoesnotneedtohavecontroloverthebehavioralevents;suchasit

is needed in a laboratory experiment. That means that the behavioral events cannot be

manipulated. Additionally, a case study is the preferred strategy when examining

contemporary events (Yin2009, 8). The case study chosen for this thesis began in January

2018,wherethefirstTwitter-postsshowedsomeofthereactionstoH&M’scampaignfromits

Britishwebsite (Appendix8-6).Thismade the casea contemporaryevent.Moreover, there

wasnoneed for “controloverbehavioralevents”, as theaimof the thesiswas to studyhow

political correctness enhances crises on socialmedia. In fact, therewas nowish or aim to

controlthebehavioralevents,asthestudywillbeuponmeaningsandinterpretationsofthe

crisis.Furthermore,casestudyhadthestrengthofdirectobservation(Yin2009,8),whichis

themethodusedwhenconductinganetnographicresearch.

Case studies are argued to be a great learning tool, as they produce context-dependent

knowledge,whichallowsacertainexpertisetoarise(Flyvbjerg2006,4-6).Hence,casestudy

becamerelevantforthisthesis.Asmentionedbefore,notmuchliteraturecouldbefoundon

politicalcorrectnessanditsinfluenceofonlinefirestorms.Acasestudythusworkedasagreat

learningtooltoinvestigatepoliticalcorrectnessanditsinfluence,andthereforebecamepart

ofthereasonsforchoosingtoconductacasestudyforthisthesis.

Tosumup,Yin(2009)definescasestudiesasastudy,wheretheresearchershouldbeasking

a‘how’or‘why’questions“aboutacontemporaryeventoverwhichtheresearcherhaslittleor

nocontrol”(Yin2009,13).Additionally,Flyvbjerg(2006)definesacasestudyas“adetailed

examinationofasingleexample”(Flyvbjerg2006,2),andwiththosetwodefinitionsthecase

studyofthisthesisthusbecameadetailedstudyoftheH&Mcrisis“TheCoolestMonkeyinthe

Jungle”andhowpoliticalcorrectnessinfluencesthecrisisonthesocialmediaTwitter.

Therefore,itispossibletoarguethattheuseofH&M’scrisiswith“TheCoolestMonkeyinthe

Jungle” couldbecharacterizedasa casestudy,as theaimwas to investigate thecontextual

conditionsofsocialmediaandpoliticalcorrectnessinrelationtothecrisis(Yin2009,13).

Furthermore, it is possible to argue that the chosen case study couldbe characterized as a

representativeor typical case.Bryman (2012) refers to it as anexemplifying case (Bryman

2012,70).Thistypeofcasestudyseekstoinvestigate“thecircumstancesandconditionsofan



everydayorcommonplacesituation”(Bryman2012,70).AccordingtoJohansenandFrandsen

(2007),crisesappeartobeapartoftheeverydaylifeoforganizations.Thisisnottosaythat

crises appear everyday, but the amount of crises have increased (Johansen and Frandsen

2007,29).H&Mhasfoundthemselvesincrisessimilarto“TheCoolestMonkeyintheJungle”,

latest in2017,where itwas revealed that the large retail companywasburning12 tonsof

clothesinDenmark(Hendrikszandfashionunited.uk2017).Theretailgiantwasalsoaccused

ofusingonlywhitemodelsintheirSouth-Africanmarketingcampaignsbackin2015(Kolbeck

andbureaubiz.dk2018).Theseexamplescanindicatecrisesasbeingacommonsituation.As

Bryman(2012)argues,thistypeofcasestudyisnotchosenbecauseitis“extremeorunusual”

(Bryman 2012, 70), but because it for instance “will provide a suitable context for certain

researchquestions tobeanswered” (Bryman 2012, 70). The case study of H&M,whichwas

chosenforthisstudy,providedacontextinwhichtheresearchquestioncouldbeanswered.

5.4EMPIRICALDATA

Inthissection,Iwillprovideanoverviewoftheempiricaldataalongwithanelaborationof

theempiricalconsiderations.

OnepartoftheempiricaldataconsistedofpostsfromthesocialmediaTwitter.Twitter isa

socialnetworking site, founded in2006 (OnmicoreAgency.com2018).Users sendout small

messages,whicharecalled‘tweets’.SomealsodefineTwitterasanewsmedia,asitiswidely

used for sharing news and latest trends (Lifewire.com 2018). In the last quarter of 2017,

Twitterhadmorethan330millionusersmonthlyandapproximately500milliontweetsare

sent out everyday (OnmicoreAgency.com 2018). The posts, which have been collected and

analyzed,arepoststhatwereconcernedwithH&M’srecentcrisis”TheCoolestMonkeyinthe

Jungle”fromJanuary2018.

Theotherpartoftheempiricaldataconsistedofinterviews,whichwasconductedwithH&M

customersfoundonFacebook.Theintervieweeswerefoundthroughapostonmypersonal

Facebook profile (Appendix 15). The initial idea of collecting interview-participantswas to

conduct small in-store interviews in an H&M store in Aalborg. However, as the interview

questionswerelinedout,itbecametoodifficulttodiscusssomethingascomplexaspolitical



correctness.Moreover,thedifficultiesofhavingtostopcustomers,whomighthavebeenina

hurry,becametoogreat,whenincludingthetimeframeleftforconductingthethesis.

Asthisthesishassocialmediaasanelementoftheproblemstatement,itwasrelevanttoseek

participantsthatwerefamiliarwithsuch.AFacebook-postwasthereforecreatedinorderto

gatherinterview-participantstoparticipateinthesemi-structuredinterviews.Allparticipants

werefoundonthedayofpostingtheFacebook-post,andtherewerenodistinctionofgender,

occupation, or the like. The only criteria for participating were that the participants

purchased H&M products and 18+ years of age. I thus ended up with seven interview-

participants,wherethreeofthemweremaleandfourofthemwerefemale.

5.4.1DATASAMPLING

TheTwitterpostsusedfortheanalysiswerechoseninorderanswertheproblemstatement.

This means that the sampling is consistent with the purposive sampling method. “The

researcherdoesnot seek to sample researchparticipants ona randombasis” (Bryman 2012,

418). The research participants did, in the casewith the Twitter-posts, consist of relevant

posts,whichthuswererelatedtotheresearchquestion.Additionally,thesamplingapproach

can be characterized as typical case sampling, as it “exemplifies a dimension of interest”

(Bryman 2012, 419). In order to identify relevant posts, the use of hashtags in the social

media’s search-bar was applied. This was search-markers such as #hm,

#coolestmonkeyinthejungle#racism. Itwasnot possible to see a total numberof search

results,butall relevantposts,whichsaidsomethingaboutH&Mand“TheCoolestMoney in

The Jungle”, was screenshot. The selecting process was then done randomly, as all posts

contained a relation to “The CoolestMonkey in The Jungle”. However, it was important to

selectanequalnumberofpostsagainstH&Mandtheadvertisementandposts“supporting”

H&Mandtheadvertisement.Theposts,whichwereanalyzed,waspoststhatexpressedrage

orangeragainstH&Mandtheiruseoftheblackchildintheirmarketingcampaign.Moreover,

posts that express some sort of incomprehensibility towards other people’s rage or anger

were analyzed. By analyzing these posts, knowledge about the role of social media and

politicalcorrectnessinrelationtoH&M’crisisemerged.



According to Bryman (2012), purposive sampling is the usual sampling approach for

qualitativeresearch(Bryman2012,416).However,hearguesthatthequantitativeresearch

samplingapproach,probabilitysampling,alsocanbeappliedwithinthequalitativeresearch

area.Thiscouldforinstancebeapplied“iftheresearchquestionsdonotsuggestthatparticular

categoriesofpeople(…)shouldbesampled(…)”(Bryman2012,416).Theresearchquestionof

this thesis did not imply for a certain unit of analysis, however, the purposive sampling

approachwasstillapplied,asthisapproachwasfoundmoresuitable,inordertoanswerthe

researchquestion.

Thelevelofsamplingwasinthisthesisasamplingofcontextandparticipants.Thesampling

ofcontextwasthesocialmedia,Twitter.Twitterfunctionedastheonlineplatformwherethe

postswerecollected.Asmentionedearlier,Twitterhasmorethan330millionmonthlyactive

users,anditisaplatformwherenewsandtrendsprevailveryfastandverycurrent.79%of

Twitter-usersarebasedincountriesoutsidetheUnitedStates,yettheUShasmorethan67

million users (OnmicoreAgency.com 2018). Twitter is thus a large global networking site,

whichmadeitsuitableforresearchwithinsocialmedia.

The sampling of interview-participants took place at Facebook, andwasmostly employing

elements of both snowballing and theoretical saturation. The element of snowballing was

employed, as the participants were “chosen” randomly. The reason for putting the word

chosen in citation-marks is because it was not possible to choose participants, besides

choosingthefactthatithadtobeH&Mcustomersand18+yearsofage.Theparticipantshad

the possibility to decline the request for an interview. Possible participants emerged by

posting the request on Facebook, but there were no certainty of their participation. As

mentionedearlier, therewasnodistinctionbetweengender,occupation,education,andthe

like.Though,theaimwastoapproachpeople,whowere18+yearsofage,asthoseofyounger

agemightnothavedevelopedasenseofthetermpoliticalcorrectness.

Theelementoftheoreticalsaturationexists,asthesamplingofintervieweescontinueduntil

“noneworrelevantdataseemtobeemerging”(Bryman2012,421).



5.4.1.1INTERVIEWS

Theinterviews,whichhavebeenconductedforthepurposeofthisthesis,aresemi-structured

interviews with open-ended questions. A semi-structured interview functions as a guide

throughtheinterview,andallowstheresearchertoaskfollow-upquestions(Kvale2007,8).A

semi-structured interview has “the purpose of obtaining descriptions of the lifeworld of the

interviewwithrespectto interpretingthemeaningof thedescribedphenomena” (Kvale2007,

8). The purpose of the thesis was to investigate the influence political correctness had in

relation toa crisisonsocialmedia, and theconducted interviews thussought toobtain the

perceptions and meanings of the interviewees in relation to political correctness, social

media, and crises. The theoretical literature provides the foundation of the interviews. In

otherwords,thismeansthat“aconceptualandtheoreticalunderstandingofthephenomenato

be investigated” (Kvale 2007, 39) has been established, in order to obtain and give new

knowledge within that phenomenon. The purpose of the investigation and the theoretical

knowledge is what Kvale (2007) refers to as the ‘why’ and the ‘what’ in thematizing an

interviewstudy(Kvale2007,37).

The conducted interviews were recorded for the purpose of being able to retain as many

detailsaspossible.Furthermore,arecordingoftheinterviewsmadeitpossibletogobackand

listentothemtogetafullunderstandingoftheopinionsandperceptions,thusenablingthe

hermeneutic circle. The recordingof the interviewsmade it possible to fully transcribe the

interviews, which made coding possible. The transcription of the interviews all included

pauses, ‘mh’-s and ‘oh’-s, as well as small descriptions of emotional expressions, such as

laughing(Kvale2007,95).Theseelementswereincludedinthetranscription,astheyhelped

portraythefeelingsandimmediatereactionsoftheparticipants.

5.4.2ANALYTICALAPPRAOCH

The analytical approach for this thesis entailed elements from Robert V. Kozinets’

netnography and the elaboration of thematic analysis. As one part of the empirical data

consistedofpostscollectedonthesocialmediaTwitter,itbecamerelevanttoconsidersome

of Kozinets’ (2002) procedures related to netnographic research. The steps, which are

included in the thesis, are:providingtrustworthy interpretation and researchethics. A short

elaborationof thetwoprocedures,alongwithanaccountof theapplicationofeachof them



will follow next. Furthermore, the procedures of Kozinets’ (2002) netnography were

combinedwithathematicanalysis.

5.4.2.1PROVIDINGTRUSTWORTHYINTERPRETATION

Whenconductingaqualitativeresearch,itisimportanttoconsiderthetrustworthinessofthe

data collected. Kozinets (2002) notes that when studying computer-mediated online

communication“informants(…)maybepresumedtobepresentingamorecarefullycultivated

andcontrolledself” (Kozinets2002,64).However,healsorefers toMead’s(1938)notionof

howoneistostudyandanalyzethecommunicativeactandnottheperson,thustheunitof

analysisisbehaviororactions(Kozinets2002,64).Inrelationtothat,KatjaRost,LeaStahel,

and Bruno S. Frey have conducted a study where they tested the digital social norm

enforcement, in order to “understand online aggression in a social-political online setting”

(Rost,StahelandFrey2016).Theyargue thatpeoplecan”hideoraltertheiridentity” (Rost,

StahelandFrey2016,5)onsocialmedia,thuspresentingadifferentpersononlinecompared

toin-person.Theyarguehowpeopleusemoreaggressiveword-of-mouthorcriticizeapublic

actor,suchasH&M,onsocialmedia(Rost,StahelandFrey2016,5).Withthatdiscussion, it

could be argued how data collected on social media cannot be presented as trustworthy.

Nevertheless, as the aimof this thesis is to investigate howpolitical correctness influences

crisesonsocialmedia,hencetoanalyzethebehaviorandthecommunicativeact,andnotthe

person behind it, data collected on socialmedia can be considered to provide trustworthy

information.Moreover,theinformationonsocialmedia–andpoliticalcorrectness-issocially

constructed,whichadditionally indicatethat informationonsocialmediacanbeconsidered

trustworthy. The aimwas to analyze the behavior and the communicative act, and not the

person behind it. This thesis provided trustworthy interpretation, as the ontological and

epistemologicalorientationswereoutlinedinthesectionoftheoryofscience.

5.4.2.2RESEARCHETHICS

Itcanbearguedthatthereisnosuchthingasprivacyonsocialmedia.Twitter,forinstance,

donotmake itpossible for itsusers tocreateaprivateprofile,whichmeans thateveryone

everywhere can see everything. Twitter was, for the purpose of this thesis, therefore

consideredaverypublicplace.Theposts,whichwascollectedforthepurposeofthisstudy,

was chosen, as they were publicly available for anyone to analyze on. Furthermore, the



posters(beingthosewhohavepostedtheposts)hadnotbeeninformedabouttheircontent

beingusedforresearchpurposes,duetothefactthatTwitterwasconsideredapublicplace.

In relation to that, the names and photos of the posters were covered, thus ensuring

anonymityofthecreatorsbehindtheTwitter-posts(Kozinets2002,65).

5.4.2.3THEMATICANALYSIS

Inorder toanalyzehowpoliticalcorrectness influencedacrisisonsocialmedia,a thematic

analysiswasconducted.BraunandClarke(2006)defineathematicanalysisas“amethodfor

identifying,analysing,andreportingpatterns(themes)withindata” (Braun andClarke2006,

6).The thematicanalysisof this thesiswas inspiredbyBraunandClarke (2006), and their

methodofthematicanalysis.Tobetransparentandtrustworthy,themethodofanalysis,how

it has been carried out, and the choices and de-selections that have been made must be

explainedthroughoutthethesis.

When going through the data set, which consisted of transcribed interviews and Twitter-

posts, itwascodedpositivelyandnegatively.Thepositivecodingwas identifiedbypositive

wordsorsentenceswithinthedata,andthenegativecodingwasidentifiedbynegativewords

or sentences.First, thedataof consistingof theTwitter-postswascodedand then thedata

consisting of the interviews. The coding of the Twitter-posts was set up in schemes, with

positive and negative charts. The initial coding scheme of Twitter-posts can be seen in

Appendixno.17.Thecodingoftheinterviewswasmoreextensive. Itwaspossibletocolor-

code sentences, which appeared of interest. This was for instance a sentence, which said

something in regards to socialmedia, whichwas coloredwith yellow. The different color-

codes can be seen in Appendix no. 16. The initial coding of the interviews can be seen in

Appendix18.ThefinalcodingofbothinterviewsandTwitter-postscanbefoundinAppendix

19.Thisschemewillbeexplainedfurtherunderphase3:searchingforthemes.

Moreover,thethematicanalysiswas,inthiscase,data-driven,whichmeansthataninductive

approachwas taken.This alsomeans that the researchquestionof this thesis could evolve

during the coding of data. In otherwords, the datawas read and re-read, in order to find

themesrelatedtotheresearchquestion,andnotcodedinrelationtoany“pre-existingcoding

frame”(BraunandClarke2006,12).Thus thedatawascollectedspecifically for this thesis.

(BraunandClarke2006,12)Thethematicanalysis forthisthesiswasconductedata latent

level,whichmeansthat interpretativeworkwascarriedout. It isthusthe“underlyingideas,



assumptions, and conceptualizations” (Braun and Clarke 2006, 13), whichwas investigated.

Furthermore,itisrelationaltotheconstructionistposition,whereopinionsandassumptions

are socially constructed (Braun and Clarke 2006, 14). With that position, it indicates that

opinions andassumptionsofpolitical correctness are socially constructed,whichwaswhat

was being sought for in the data set. Therefore, the constructionist position, in relation to

conductingathematicanalysis,soughttounderstandthesocialandculturalcontext,thusto

theorizeit,whichlaysthegroundforwhattheinterview-participantsandTwitter-postshave

said.Theaimofthisthesiswastounderstandhowpoliticalcorrectnessinfluencedcriseson

socialmedia,andsocialmediawasthusthesocialandculturalcontext,whichthemeaningof

theinfluencepoliticalcorrectnesshas,wasbasedon.

Thethematicanalysisofthisthesisinitiallybeganatthesametimeasthedatacollection.This

willbefurtherelaboratedonintheanalysis.Thethematicanalysisisaprocessofmovingback

and forthbetween thedata set,which thus functions as the interpretationof thedata, and

henceprovidestherelevanceoftheunderlyingopinionsandassumptions(BraunandClarke

2006, 15). Braun and Clarke (2006) set out a step-by-step guide on how to do a thematic

analysis.Eventhoughtherearenocorrectandstrictlyoutlinedmethodfordoingathematic

analysis,thestepsprovidesbyBraunandClarke(2006)functionswell,anddidthusprovide

theguidelinesforthisanalysis.Thesixsteps,orphasesastheyarecalledbytheauthors,are:

phase1:familiarizingyourselfwithyourdata,phase2:generatinginitialcodes,phase

3: searching for themes, phase 4: reviewing themes, phase 5: defining and naming

themes,andphase6:producingthereport.

Phase1:familiarizingyourselfwithyourdata

In order to become familiarized with the data, the interviews were fully transcribed. The

transcriptions, asmentioned earlier in section 5.4.1.1 INTERVIEWS, included the notion of

‘mh’-s, ‘oh’-s, and pauses, in order to provide a deeper understanding of the participants’

opinionsandassumptionofthetopic.Moreover,thetranscriptionoftheinterviewsallowed

aninterpretationtotakeplaceatanearlystageoftheanalysis(BraunandClarke2006,17).

Alongwith the transcriptionof the interviews, thedatawas readand re-read to search for

initialopinionsandpatterns.TheTwitter-posts,whichwerechosentobeapartof thedata



set,wasreadandre-readduringtheselectionofposts,andI thusbecamefamiliarwiththe

data.

Phase2:generatinginitialcodes

Phase 2 began after reading and familiarizingmyselfwith the data. The coding of the data

included a use of colors, asmentioned above. The coding in this phasewas a raw coding,

whichmeansthatalldata,whichappearedtobeofinterest,wascoded.Itisimportanttonote,

thatthecodeddatadidnotfunctionasthethemes,whichwasappliedintheanalysis.Coding

ofthedataentailedaprocessofpointingoutalldataofpotential interest.Furthermore, the

data will be coded with some “surrounding data”, as context is relevant in order to fully

understandthedata(BraunandClarke2006,18).Thethemeswereconductedfromabroader

perspective, whichwill be outlined in the next phase. As the data of this thesis was data-

driven, the coding depended on the data exclusively.Moreover, the coding of the datawas

donemanually.(BraunandClarke2006,18-19)

Phase3:searchingforthemes

Duringthethirdphaseofthethematicanalysis,thecodingwasmoreorlessdone.Duringthe

codingofthedata,thethemesfortheanalysisbegantoemerge.Thethemesemergedonthe

basis of the coding, which means that the different codes were collated and thus forming

themes.ThefinalcodingschemecanbeseeninAppendixno.19.Allexampleswerethenput

undereachthemetowhichtheybelong.Additionally,theauthorsrecommendasortofvisual

representation of the coding, which thus also is seen in Appendix no. 18. At this stage, all

examples,which appeared to be useful,were included in the scheme, even if therewere a

doubt of having placed themunder the correct theme. Thiswas done in order to have the

possibilitytocastirrelevantexamplesaway,yetatthesametimesecurethem,iftheybecame

relevanttotheanalysis.

Phase4:reviewingthemes

Thefourthphaseincludedthefinalthemesbeingreadyforanalysis.Thephaseincludedtwo

levels.Thefirstlevelincludedthereviewingofthedata,whichmeansthatalldatawasread

onemore time in order to secure that the chosen examples represented the given theme.

Duringthislevelofphasefour,somefewexamplesweremovearound,asitthusappearedto



bemorecoherent.Thesecondlevelofphasefourinvolvedtherelationoftheentiredataset.

This included a re-reading of the data, in order to search for further or perhaps missed

themes.Duringthislevelofphasefournofurtherthemesemerged,buttheexamples,which

didnotfitunderanythemeanddidnotcontributetotheanalysiswerediscarded.

Phase5:definingandnamingthemes

Inthisphase,thenamesforthethemesemerged.Thiswasdonebydefiningthethemes,and

describingtheessenceofeachofthem.Thedescriptionofeachthemecanaswellbeseenin

Appendix18,underthenamesofthethemes.Bydescribingthethemes,Imadesurethateach

aspect of the thesis was being covered. In Appendix 18 it is also possible to see that the

themes coverboth the codingof interviews andTwitter-posts. The reason for collating the

codingofbothtypesofdataunderoverallthemeswasduetothefactthatthisthesisdoesnot

seek to compare the reactions on Twitter with the statements from the interview-

participants.Thethemesaimtocovertheentireessenceofthethesis,henceoverallthemes,

whichcaptureeachaspectofthethesis,functionedbest.

Phase6:producingthereport

When the final themeswere in place, the sixth and last phase begun. The sixth phase also

representedthebeginningoftheanalysis,andwillthusbecontinuedinthenextsection–6.0

Analysis.



6.0ANALYSIS

Inthefollowingsection,athematicanalysishasbeenconducted,basedonthefirstfivephases

ofBraunandClarke’s(2006)process.Theaimoftheanalysiswastoinvestigatehowpolitical

correctnessinfluencedTheH&Mcrisisonsocialmedia,andduringthecodingofthedatatwo

themes emerged and were thus analyzed. The two themes are: ‘The H&M firestorm as

perceivedinaDanishcontext’and‘PoliticalcorrectnessintheH&Mfirestorm–fromaDanish

perspective’.

6.1“TheH&MfirestormasperceivedinaDanishcontext”

The first theme that appeared from the conducted interviews was how the interview-

participantsfoundfirestormsonsocialmediaassomethingthatisparttheonlineworld,and

that theydonotpaymuchattention to such.This themeaims to investigatehow theH&M

firestorm“TheCoolestMonkeyintheJungle”onTwitterisviewedfromaDanishperspective.

In that matter, the theme includes how the interview-participants use social media

themselves,inregardstoonlinefirestormsandtheirreactionstosuch.

ItispossibletoarguethatH&M’s“TheCoolestMonkeyinTheJungle”-crisisisaparacrisis,as

it poses a threat to theorganization and theorganization’s reputation.H&M’s crisis canbe

characterizedasaparacrisis,asittakesplaceonsocialmedia,mainlyonTwitter,whichthus

functionsasarhetoricalarena.Thecrisisthereforebecomespubliclyvisible,andpeopleare

chargingH&Mwithunethical, irresponsible, andpolitical incorrectmanner,which thus can

harmtheorganizationsreputation.ThefollowingfivestatementsfromTwittershowsomeof

thesecharges.

“Marketing fail. H&M puts a black child in a hoodie that reads: “I’m the coolest

monkey in the jungle.”And thewhitechild is the “survivalexpert.”Andnow folks

are pretending like they don’t know that black children have long been racially

characterizedasmonkeys.”(Appendix1–Twitter-postno.1)



“There’s aWhite Supremacist whoworks for H&Mwho thought it was funny to

make a black boy model a hoodie that said “Coolest Monkey In The Jungle”

(Appendix3–Twitter-postno.3)

“They got a lil black boy in a monkey hoodie. Of course it’s offensive but it’s so

obvious,I’mhystericaloverthelackofawarenessbyH&M.”(Appendix6–Twitter-

postno.6)

“Fuck you@hm I’m glad your stores are shut down in South Africa! They don’t

wantyou there!Next time fucking thinkbeforeyoudosomestupidshit like that!

#FuckYou #HM #Racism #Africa.” (Appendix 9 – Twitter-post no. 2 for the

interviews)

“[email protected]’snotcoincident.Iknow#racismwhenIseeit”(Appendix10–

Twitter-postno.3fortheinterviews)

ThesestakeholdersseemtobelievethatH&Mhaveactedinanunethicalmanner,byusinga

blackboyasthemodelforahoodiethatsays“CoolestMonkeyinTheJungle”.Thesecharges,

whichhavebeenpostedonlinecandamageH&M’sreputation,andcanthereforedevelopinto

a paracrisis. These posts can also indicate that social media can intensify a paracrisis.

AccordingtoCoombsandHolladay(2012)socialmediaisaperfectplatformforstakeholders

to express their opinions and attitudes towards an organization, in relation to an

organization’s challenges. The Twitter-posts above show this, however it is not only the

negativepostsandcommentstowardsH&Mthatarepostedonline.Thefollowingfiveposts

areexamplesofpositivereactionstotheH&Madvertisement.

“The H&M *** is just irony. I highly doubt they were like “let’s put the monkey

hoodieonthe*****baby” likeyállmaking itseem.” (Appendix2 –Twitter-posts

no.2)



“H&MisnotanAmericancompany.Nonnativebrandsdonothavetobefamiliar

withUSA’s(orothercountries)historicalconflicts.Noonehastodoabackground

researchforadvertisingasimplehoodie.”(Appendix4–Twitter-postno.4)

“Y’allcanfeelhowy’all feelabouttheh&mhoodiesituation,Ithoughtthehoodie

wascute(emoji)sueme.”(Appendix5–Twitter-postno.5)

“@thismorning@hmThisseemslikesuchapettyissueconsideringalltheterrible

things happening in theworld right now. Get some perspective, people! #racism

#ThisMorning”(Appendix8–Twitter-postno.1fortheinterviews)

“Everyoneislosingtheirshotover@hmadvert.Whymakeeverythingoranything

racial? #MoveOn #CalmDown #TheCoolestMonekyInTheJungle” (Appendix 11 –


Theseexamplesshowthatpeopleexpresstheiropinions,attitudes,andfeelingstowardsH&M

online. From the interviews with Danish H&M consumers conducted for this thesis, it

becomesclear thatnoneof theparticipants takepart,orwish to takepart in therhetorical

arenaregarding“TheCoolestMonkeyinTheJungle”,at leastnotonsocialmedia. Thisalso

means thatnoneof themfallsunder thecategoryof faith-holdersorhateholders, as theyall

expressedthattheypreferrednottocommentonsuchcrises.

“I thinka lot about how I expressmyself on socialmedia, because, eh… if it isn’t

something in a private conversation or if you don’t have a private profile, if it’s

somethingthatcomesouttoeveryone,thenit’softensomethingthat’sgoingtobe

thereforever.”(Appendix21,participantno.1,ll.122–owntranslation)

“Eh,Idon’treallyshareposts.I’mveryinactiveonsocialmedia.ButifIhadtoshare

something,itwouldprobablybesomeofthosewhoconsidertheissuesaboutwhat

we should really care about” (Appendix 22, participant no. 2, ll. 97 – own

translation)



“Itrynottousesocialmediaforthatkindofthings.Alsobecause,everythingcanbe

misunderstood on socialmedia” (Appendix 23, participant no. 3, ll. 100 – own

translation)

“Again,misinterpretationsofeverythingas soonasyousharesomething thathas

something do towith racism, or has something to dowith pedophiles, or animal

crueltyorwhatever,well,thenpeopleinterpretit indifferentways,andthenyou

willbejudgedinonewayoranother.Sono,that’swhyIdon’tcareaboutsharing.”

(Appendix23,participantno.3,ll.111–owntranslation)

“Thosefirestormsandcontributingtothem,Iamnotgoingtodothat.Imean,ifI

haveanopinionaboutsomething,Iwouldthinkthatitwascoolenough,buttoride

along on somewave just to be a part of it, is irrelevant, I think.” (Appendix 26,

participantno.6,ll.121–owntranslation)

Theseexamples indicate that theparticipantsdidnot takepart in the rhetorical arena that

developed, and did therefore not become crisis-communicators. These participants do not

expresstheirfeelingsandattitudesonsocialmedia,astheyfinditfrivolousandunnecessary,

anditcanthereforeindicatethattheydonotbelievethatH&Mhasactedinanirresponsible

orunethicalmanner.Hence,theparticipantsdothusnotbelievethatH&M’sreputationwillbe

damaged. The following examples showhow the interview-participants donot believe that

H&Mhasactedinanirresponsibleorunethicalmanner.

“Yes…it’saprettyextremestatement.Imean,Idon’t…,evenwhenIsawitthefirst

time, I didn’t even thinkabout it.” (Appendix 27, participant no. 7, ll. 45 – own

translation)

“(…)Idon’tthinkthatiswasH&M’sintension.Ithinktheywerecaughtinaworld,

where we talk a lot about racism, and where we are very considerate about.”




Mostoftheparticipantsmentionedhowtheyhavebecomeawareof“TheCoolestMonkeyin

The Jungle” through social media, which could indicate that social media is a perfect and

preferred platform for stakeholders to express their opinions and attitudes towards an

organization,asarguedbyCoombsandHolladay(2012).Itcanalsoindicatethatsocialmedia

isaperfectplaceforpeopletobecomeawareofmisconductsbyorganizations.Thefollowing

examplesshowanindicationofthis.

“Yea,socialmediawasthefirstplaceIsawit”(Appendix21,participantno.1, ll.

18–owntranslation)

“Eh,IthinkIsawitthefirsttimeonFacebook,perhaps.”(Appendix22,participant

no.2,ll.12–owntranslation)

“IthinkIsawitonsocialmedia,actually.Aftersomeonesaidsomedifferentthings

aboutit.”(Appendix24,participantno.4,ll.19–owntranslation)

“Eh,onFacebook.Actually.Therewerea lotof fussabout it,andthen I think…it

was somekindofopinion-forming site thatposted it.” (Appendix 25, participant


“The first time I saw itwaswhen it becamea firestorm.OnFacebook, I think. It

exploded and people were writing ‘this is terrible and horrible’” (Appendix 26,


One interview-participantsaw“TheCoolestMonkey inThe Jungle” ina traditionalmedia;a

DanishnewspapercalledBT:

“Participantno.3:IthinkthefirsttimeIsawitwaswhenitwasinthemediawith

thisquoteonthehoodie.

Interviewer:Andwhichmediumwasit,doyourememberthat?WasittheNews?

Participantno.3: ItwaseitherEsktraBladetorBT,sooneofthosenewspapers.”




The fact that the crisis is portrayed in both social and traditionalmediameans thatmore

peopleareexposedtotheparacrisis,anditcanthusbecomeevenmoreimportantforH&Mto

handlethesituation.Itcanalsobeamatterofcrisesarisingonsocialmediaandthusspreads

tothetraditionalmedia,whichthenmeansthattheparacrisisintensifiesfurther.Thefactthat

the participants have become aware of the crisis on social media can indicate that some

stakeholdersbelievethatH&Mhasactedinanirresponsibleorunethicalmanner.Thistypeof

stakeholderisreferredtoashateholders.Hateholdershasalsoenteredtherhetoricalarenaof

Twitter, as, according to Luoma-aho (2015), these are the ones who believe that an

organizationhasacted inan irresponsibleorunethicalmanner. Inotherwords, thismeans

that more stakeholders become aware of the crisis, and thus more potential crisis

communicatorscanenter therhetoricalarena.When lookingat theTwitter-postsregarding

theH&Mcrisis,bothfaith-holdersandhateholdersexpressthemselvesonsocialmedia.The

hateholdersofH&MonTwitterarebothdirectlyandindirectlyaccusingH&Mofbeingracist

andindicatesthattheyfindH&Mactionspoliticallyincorrect.

“They got a lil black boy in a monkey hoodie. Of course it’s offensive but it’s so

obvious.I’mhystericaloverthelackofawarenessbyH&M.”(Appendix6–Twitter-

postno.6)

“There’s aWhite Supremacist whoworks for H&Mwho thought it was funny to

make a black boy model a hoodie that said “Coolest Monkey In The Jungle”

(Appendix3–Twitter-postno.3)

“Fuck you@hm I’m glad your stores are shut down in South Africa! They donøt


“FuckYou #HM #Racism #Africa” (Appendix 9 – Twitter-post no. 2 for the

interviews)

“[email protected]’snotcoincident.Iknow#racismwhenIseeit(Appendix10–




These statements express negative opinions and attitudes towards H&M, which can

characterizethewritersofthepostsashateholders.ThiscouldfurthermoreindicatethatH&M

havenotmettheneedsandexpectationsofitsstakeholders,astheyexpresstheirangerand

frustrationsonsocialmedia.

Thestatementshavebeenpostedpublicly,inorderforittobepossibletofindandviewthem.

Byusingwords such as “racism”, “lack of awareness” and “white supremacist”, theseposts

indicate anger towards H&M. Additionally, by using hashtags the writers make it easy for

people interested in the crisis to search for posts,which say something about it. This also

means thatmorepeople are exposed to theposts,which thenmeans thatmorepeople are

exposed to the negative point of view on H&M and the crisis. Luoma-aho (2015) argues,

hateholders are often more reliable than the positive reports on social media, which thus

createsanurgencyofhandlingthecrisis.However,whenshowingsomenegativeposttothe

interviewparticipants, it became clear they did not find firestorms on socialmedia, of this

kind,tobeofmuchimpacttothem.

“It’s because it seems so exaggerated. ‘Fuck you’, I mean, it’s the type of

communication you see on the Internet today. It’s so, eh, I mean, it’s so strait

forward,soit’slikethethoughtswehave,atthemomentwehavethem,weneedto

writethem,Imean,it’ssocarelessinsomeway”(Appendix25,participantno.5,ll.


“Butagain, it’s thisthing, if it’s justa firestorm,thenIthink it’sa littleone-sided,

kind of like a herdmentality. Try to find your ownopinion, instead of just going

withwhat’seasy.Imean,somekindoftrend, like.NowwehateonH&M,thenit’s

JensensBøfhus,thenit’ssomethingelse.”(Appendix26,participantno.6,ll.135–

owntranslation)

“Morelikesuchatorchlightparadesaying‘deathoverH&M’.Ithinkit’sridiculous.”


These examples can indicate that some of the participants find firestorms to be something

thatis“just”apartoftheonlineworldtoday,whichcouldindicatethattheydonotpaymuch



attention to them.According to the interview-participants, therearesomany firestormson

socialmediathatithastobeofgreatsignificanceforthemtocareaboutit.Theparticipants

find firestormstobeone-sidedandtobeacarelesswayofcommunicatingonsocialmedia.

This indicates that thecrisis-communicatorsonsocialmediadonotseethings fromseveral

perspectives, which then could indicate that the organizations reputation might not be as

damaged as stated by Luoma-aho (2015). The participants also argue how, firestorms on

socialmediaoftenareexaggeratedanddescribeitassomething,whichotherusersofsocial

mediajustgoalongwith.

To keep a crisis on social media from escalating, faith-holders are important to the

organization. In the case with H&M, faith-holders entered the rhetorical arena and posted

morepositivelyloadedpostswithanotiontothehate-holderstocalmdown.

“The H&M **** is just irony. I highly doubt they were like “let’s put themonkey

hoodieonthe*****baby”likey’allmakingitseem”(Appendix2–Twitter-postno.

2)

“H&misnotanAmericancompany.Nonnativebrandsdonothavetobefamiliar

withUSA’(orothercountries)historicalconflicts.Noonehastodoabackground

researchforadvertisingasimplehoodie”(Appendix4–Twitter-postno.4)

“Y’all can feelhowy’all feelabout theh&mhoodie situation, I though thehoodie

wascute(emoji)sueme.”(Appendix5–Twitter-postno.5)




“Everyoneislosingtheirshitover@hmadvert.Whymakeeverythingoranything

racial? #MoveOn “CalmDown “TheCoolestMonkeyInTheJungle” (Appendix 11 –




Thesestatementsappeartohavebeenpostedbyfaith-holdersofH&M.Thepostsindicatethat

the faith-holdersdonot think thatH&Mhasacted inan irresponsibleorunethicalmanner,

andcanthereforeindicatethattheorganizationmeetstheneedsandexpectationsofthefaith-

holders. The posts by the faith-holders were also posted publicly, in order for them to be

availableforthisthesis,whichalsomakesthemvaluableforH&M,andcanthuspossiblehelp

to calm down the situation online. Thus, both hateholders and faith-holders act as crisis

communicators.Asmentionedearlier,thehateholder-postsareoftenconsideredtobemore

reliablethanpositivereports.However,thereactionsfromtheinterview-participants,when

readingtheTwitter-poststhatrepresentedbothhateholdingandfaith-holding, indicatethat

theywerenotmuch affectedby them.When reading thehateholder-posts, theparticipants

viewthemasanoverreactionofthesituation,andcanthusnotidentifythemselveswiththe

reaction.Thiscanbeseeninthefollowingextracts.

“Ialsothinkit’s…it’sareallyheatedstatement.”(Appendix21,participantno.1,ll.


“Eh,Imaybealsothinkthatit’sjust,wellithasbeenanoverreactiontoallofthis.”


“SoIunderstandinsomeway,butIthinkitisaheatedreaction,becauseIthinkit’s

old-fashionedtohavethiswayofthinking.”(Appendix23,participantno.3,ll.55–

owntranslation)

“Eh,onthefaceofit,Ialsothinkit’sapettyissue”(Appendix25,participantno.5,

ll.55–owntranslation)

“Well,Iknowofthecase,butmyfirstthoughtwasthatiswasjusttwoboyswearing

hoodies. Eh, I must admit that.” (Appendix 25, participant no. 5, ll. 25 – own

translation)

“Ithinkit’soverblown.Ithinksetsoffwaytoomuch”(Appendix26,participantno.

6,ll.80–owntranslation)



“Yes…it’saprettyextremestatement.Imean,Idon’t…,evenwhenIsawitthefirst

time, I didn’t even thinkabout it.” (Appendix 27, participant no. 7, ll. 45 – own

translation)

TheexamplesshowanindicationoftheparticipantsnotcomprehendingtheissueoftheH&M

situation,andarethereforenotabletounderstandthereactionspostedonTwitter.Allseven

interview-participantsstatedthattheywouldcontinuetoshopatH&M,despite“TheCoolest

Monkey inThe Jungle” crisis,which therefore could indicate themasbeing faith-holders to

H&M,despitethefactthattheydonottakepartintherhetoricalarenaonsocialmedia.

The interviews also showed that none of the interview-participants wanted to express

themselvesonsocialmediaorshareposts,whichdescribedtheirownfeelingsandopinions

towardsthecrisis.Allparticipantshesitatedandappearedtobethinkingthoroughlybefore

answeringthequestionwhethertheywouldsharepostsonlineor if theywoulddefendand

organization.

“Idon’tliketogiveitairtime,whenit’sthingslikethis”(Appendix25,participant


“Well,Ithink…again,thisthingabout…Ithinklikethis,thatitcouldalsohitme,ifI

sharesomethingandpeopledon’tagreewithme. Imean, ifyouhavesomeone in

yourcircleoffriends,orsomethinglikethat,thatagreeonthepostI’msharingis

racist, then ‘whywouldyousharethispersonsmeaningsabout…’.” (Appendix27,


“Iwouldn’t if itwasnegative.Idon’t liketosharenegativethings,becauseIdon’t

see any reason to do that or to spread that kind of message.” (Appendix 27,


However, one participant argues that he would defend an organization, if everyone else

appearedtobegoingalongwiththefirestorm:



“ThisislikeanInternet-warriorsyndrome,thateverytimesomethinghappensthat

we can share and get angry about, I would probably defend, if I was to share

something.”(Appendix22,participantno.2,ll.101–owntranslation)

The above-standing examples show an indication of contrary behavior. The interview-

participantisindicatingthatpeoplearegoingalongonfirestorms,withouthavingactualfacts

toactaccordingto.Hedoesnotfindfirestormsonsocialmediatobeofanyrelevance,asthey

cannot provide the real insight into a certain situation, which he believes to be necessary

whenenteringadebate.

…becauseIknowthatyou’llrarelygetamatter-of-factkindofdebate,ifyoustart

itaplacelikethat(socialmedia).”(Appendix22,participantno.2, ll.107–own

translation)

In relation to that, another interview-participant argues how much information is lost on

socialmedia,thusindicatingthatenteringfirestormsonline,willnotturnoutthewayitwas

supposedto:

“therearejustsomuchthat’slostonawrittenmedium”(Appendix23,participant


This corresponds with the examples shown above, where the participant states how

misinterpretationshappensveryoftenonsocialmedia,anditthusunderliesthatparticipant’s

reasonfornotwantingtosharepostsordefendanorganizationonline,yetstillbeingafaith-

holderofH&M.Fromthoseexamples,itispossibletoarguethatfaith-holdersnotnecessarily

needtoparticipateintheonlinefirestorms,henceentertherhetoricalsub-arena,inorderto

beconsideredfaith-holders.

Fromtheanalysisconductedabove,itispossibletoconcludethatsocialmediaplayedagreat

roleintheH&Mcrisis“TheCoolestMonkeyinTheJungle”.Therhetoricalsub-arena,inwhich

thecrisistookplace,entailedbothhateholdersandfaith-holders.Theinterview-participants

obtained information regarding the crisison socialmedia,mainlyFacebook, ashateholders



foundH&Mtohaveactedinanirresponsibleandunethicalmanner.Moreover,theH&Mcrisis

has beenportrayed in both traditional and socialmedia,which has increased the potential

actorsoftherhetoricalarena.SuchfactorsrequireH&Mtotakeaction,whichalsohappened

inthe formofanapologyon itsTwitterandInstagram(Appendix12+13).Socialmedia isa

great communication tool for stakeholders, but also for an organization. H&M has thus

apologizedonbothTwitterandInstagram,andtheorganizationhasremovedtheitemfrom

itswebsite,anditisthereforenolongerpossibletopurchasethehoodie.

“Therecentincidentwasentirelyunintentional,butitdemonstratessoclearlyhow

bigoutresponsibilityisasaglobalbrand.Wehavereachedout,aroundtheworld,

insideandoutsideH&Mtoget feedback.Ourcommitment toaddressingdiversity

and inclusiveness isgenuine, thereforewehaveappointedaglobal leader, in this

area,todriveourworkforward.Therewillbemorefromussoon.”(Appendix12)

ThisstatementcouldindicatethatH&Mhasappliedanimplicitreformstrategy,astheyhave

hirednewleaderstoensurethatsimilarcriseswillnotoccur.H&Musedsocialmediatoreach

outtoitsstakeholders,whichcorrespondswellwithitspresenceonsocialmedia.Inaddition

tothat,theorganizationusedmorethanonesocialmedia,alongwithapologiesonitswebsite.

Theapologieswerewrittenabout inseveralonlinenewspapers, for instanceABCNewsand

TheWashingtonPost (TheWashingtonPost2018) (abc13News2018).This could indicate

that H&M has been redundant and sprawl in their apology, in order to reach as many

stakeholders as possible. However, themain apology has been on the organization’s social

media, which can indicate that the organization is aware of its target group, especially in

relationtotheonlinefirestorm,whichtheadvertisementhascaused.

From the above-mentioned examples it is possible to argue that the online firestorm “The

CoolestMonkeyinTheJungle”influencesH&M’sstakeholdersinbothapositiveandnegative

manner.Thepositiveinfluenceisexpressedthroughtheorganizationsfaith-holders,whoare

trying to calm down the situation, and reduce the value of the posts written by the

hateholders. Faith-holders do not need to act as crisis communicators in order to be

characterizedasfaith-holders,yettheywillstillsupporttheorganization,forinstanceinthe

form of purchasing products. According to the interview-participants online firestorms are

viewedas“everydaylife”onsocialmedia,anddothereforenotpaymuchattentiontosuch.



Theinterview-participantsneitherwantstoexpressthemselvesonsocialmediainrelationto

crises, such as “The Coolest Monkey in The Jungle”, or share posts, which expresses their

opinions and feelings. This is due to the fact that the participants are influenced by other

people’s reactions on social media, which lead further to the next theme of hiding behind

politicalcorrect.

6.2“PoliticalcorrectnessintheH&Mfirestorm–fromaDanishperspective”

Thesecondthemethatappearedintheconductedinterviewswasthatnoneoftheinterview-

participantsbelievedthatH&Mhasactedpoliticallyincorrect,andthattheyviewedpolitical

correctness as an obsession. However, this was when they were looking from a personal

perspective.Whentheyconsideredthebroaderperspective,whichincludesthesocialnorms,

they argued that H&M had acted politically incorrect. The interviews indicate that

participantsarecarefulabouthowtheyaddresstheissueofpoliticalcorrectnessinrelationto

theH&Msituation.Thefollowingexamplesshowanindicationofthis.

“Well,youcan,accordingtothemselves,whenthey…iftheygooutanapologizefor

something, then they must have acted political incorrect in some way, so yes.”


“Well, it’s difficult, because I think that political incorrectness is a question of

sensitivity,andIactuallythinkthat it isaproblemthatwearesosensitiveabout

ourpoliticaldebate,orcorrectness.Butyouwouldhavetosaythatwhenyoulook

atthetendenciesinthesociety,thenthisisprobablypoliticalincorrect,ifyoulook

atatendencyinthesociety.Inrelationtomypoliticalcorrectness,Idon’tthinkitis

anissue,againbecauseIthinkitinsomewaycreatesadebate,etc.Butifyoulook

at the tendencies, then it’s probably political incorrect, but for me personally, I

don’t think it’s a problem to do it, because political incorrectness also can

contributetobreakingsometaboosandmoveboundaries,whichinsomecases,are

abitstupid,Ithink.”(Appendix22,participantno.2,ll.141–owntranslation)



“They should probably have had more people to look through their marketing

material,beforetheysentitout.Eh,butthenagain,it’sadiscussionaboutwhether

it is political incorrect, because… I don’t see anything wrong about it, but some

peopledo,soitisamatterofinterpretation.Sosomewouldsayyes,theyhave,and

otherswouldsayno,theyhavenot.Ipersonallydon’tthinkit’spolitical incorrect,

menIunderstandwhysomepeoplemightmisinterpretthiscommercial,butagain,

I think it’s an old-fashioned way of thinking. Not because, you should of course

acknowledgethatracismishorribleandnotsupportitatall,butIdon’tthinkthat

it’stheissuehere.“(Appendix23,participantno.3,ll.155–owntranslation)

“Well,againIthinkitisalittletwo-parted,becauseifyoutakethisnaiveapproach

towards it,whichIkindof think it is,andsaythatthey(H&M)reallydidn’t think

aboutit,andthatitwasamistake,andthat…Imean,ifit’slikethat,thenIthink,

wellokay,it’sstupid,butit’samistake,ithappens,itshuman.Butifit’slike‘okay,

listen, let go stir things up, and get our name all over the world press’, which I

mightbelieveisthecase,thenIthinkit ispolitical incorrect,becausethenIthink

you play on something that is already a major issue I many societies, namely

racism.AndthenIthinkit’swrong.Butitdependsontheapproach.”(Appendix26,


“Politically,yes.Imean,ifyouhavetolookpolitical,lookatskincolor,orhowtosay

it,thenitwasn’tasmartmove,andwhentheshirtsaysmonkey,Imean…theycould

have told themselves that itwasn’t smart toputablackboy in the sweaterwith

monkeyon.”(Appendix27,participantno.7,ll.185–owntranslation)

“Imean, to say,whydo people think like this. It is a very developedmind that a

persondonotthinkcolor,orhowdoIsayit.”(Appendix27,participantno.7,ll.81

–owntranslation)

According to the hateholders, H&M has not acted in accordance with diversity and

multiculturalism,which caused the firestorm. The posts from the hateholders indicate that

the stakeholders find it racist to use a black child to model a hoodie, which said “Coolest



MonkeyinTheJungle”.Inotherwords,H&Mhasnotshowdiversityandmulticulturalismin

the correct manner, according to its stakeholders. Political correctness can function as

censorship, thus meaning that people are using political correctness to hide their real

thoughtsandopinions.Theabove-mentionedexamplesalsoshowanindicationofcensorship,

as someof theparticipants show insecurityabouthow toaddress themodelof thehoodie.

Rememberingthat,alloftheinterview-participantsstatedthattheywouldnotshareorpost

anythinginrelationto“TheCoolestMonkeyinTheJungle”orsimilar,online,astheyfearedto

bemisunderstood,misinterpretedorevencalledoutasracists themselves.Suchstatements

canalsoindicatethatpoliticalcorrectnessfunctionsasacensorship,andthusplaysarolein

online firestorms.This isboth in thesenseofhidingbehindpoliticalcorrectness,hence the

censorship, and in the sense of being called out, ifnot acting political correct, according to

other social media-users. Political correctness is therefore, in some way hindering the

interview-participants frompublicly supportingH&M,and theorganizations reputation can

thus be damaged.Wikström (2016) argues that social media is a platformwhere political

correctness isoftenapplied,andveryoften inrelation tosocialmediamovements. It isnot

possible toarguethat theH&Mcrisiscanbecharacterizedasasocialmediamovement,yet

theaspectandtheissueofracism,whichisbeingascribedtoit,indicatesthatsocialjusticeis

notbeingmet.

“Marketing fail. H&M puts a black child in a hoodie that reads: “I’m the coolest

monkeyinthejungle.”Andnowfolksarepretendingliketheydon’tknowthatblack

children have long been racially characterized as monkeys.” (Appendix 8.1 –

Twitter-postno.1)

“There´s a White Supremacist who works for H&M who though it was funny to

make a black boy model a hoodie that said “Coolest Monkey In The Jungle”.”

(Appendix8.3–Twitter-postno3)

“Fuck you@hm I’m glad your stores are shut down in South Africa! They don’t


#FuckYou #HM #Racism #Africa.” (Appendix 8.9 – Twitter-post no. 2 for the

interviews)



“Boycott@hm . that’s not coincident. I know #racismwhen I see it.” (Appendix

8.10–Twitter-postno.3fortheinterviews)

According toH&M’s hateholders, the organization’s use of a black childmodeling a hoodie

withanunethicalquote, theorganizationisracist.Racismdoesnot implydiversity,andcan

thusindicatethatpoliticalcorrectnessplaysarole,whenitcomestoonlinefirestorms.People

onsocialmediaexpresstheirthoughts,opinions,andfeelingsonsocialmedia,anddonotfeel

theneedtobeanonymous,duetoabeliefthat”theystandupforhigher-ordermoralidealand

principles”. The above-mentioned Twitter-posts show an indication of people employing

politicalcorrectnessonsocialmedia,whichcanindicatethatitisbelievedtobeadigitalsocial

media norm, in relation to online firestorms. The Twitter-posts above can furthermore

indicate that the stakeholders do not believe that H&M has acted according to the digital

socialmedianorms,byusingablackchildasamodelforthe“CoolestMonkeyinTheJungle”-

hoodie.Inotherwords,thepostscanindicatethatthestakeholdersofH&Mareattemptingto

upholdthesocialnorm,bydisapprovingH&Madvertisement.Thedigitalsocialnormisbeing

enforcedonsocialmedia,whichmightbethereasonforpeopleturningtowardssocialmedia,

suchasTwitter,toexpresstheirfeelings,thoughts,andopinions.Inorderforthestakeholders

to uphold the digital social norm, they need to disapprove a behavior, which does not

correspond with the norm. This can also be a reason for people expressing their feelings,

thoughts, and opinions in public. In that matter, the posts on Twitter, which expressed

disgrace towards H&M, construct how political correctness influenced the H&M crisis on

socialmedia.

It is possible to see that not all posts on Twitter are negative and accusing H&M of being

racists. The following five posts are examples of faith-holders attempting to disregard the

hateholders.

“The H&M **** is just irony. I highly doubt they were like “let’s put themonkey

hoodieonthen*****baby”likey’allmakingitseem” (Appendix2–Twitter-post

no.2)



“H&MisnotanAmericancompany.Nonnativebrandsdonothavetobefamiliar

withUSAs(orothercountries)historicalconflicts.Noonehastodoabackground

researchforadvertisingasimplehoodie.”(Appendix4–Twitter-postno.4)

“Y’all can fell howy’all fell about theh&mhoodie situation, I though itwas cute

(emojie)sueme.”(Appendix5–Twitter-postsno.5)




“Everyoneislosingtheirshitover@hmadvert.Whymakeeverythingoranything

racial? #MoveOn #CalmDown #TheCoolestMonkeyInTheJungle” (Appendix 11 –


The posts indicate that faith-holders also help construct the digital social norm, regarding

politicalcorrectness.Thepostsdonotindicatethatracismisallright,however,itappearasif

theyareattemptingtocreateanotherperspectiveonthesituation.Moreover,itappearsasif

thefaith-holdersaredowngradingthehateholders’perspective,andthusattemptingtocreate

adigitalsocialnorm,wherepoliticalcorrectnessdoesnotinfluenceinthesamemanner.

InthiscasethecreatorsoftheTwitter-posts,whoarecharacterizedashateholders,arehiding

behind political correctness, hence using it as a censorship. The faith-holders are in that

matter not hiding behind political correctness, as they stand up for H&M, and they are

downgradingtheracialissue,foundbythehateholders.Eventhoughtheissueofracismisa

sensitivesubject,thefaith-holdersarestillspeakingtheirmindaboutthecrisiscreatedonline.

The posts indicate that the faith-holders are attempting to create some perspective to the

crisis.Inthatmatter,thepostscanalsoindicatethatwhatisseenaspoliticalcorrectmightnot

necessarily be the truth. The faith-holder posts could thus indicate that the posts from the

hateholdersarenotspeakingthetruth.

From the conducted interviews it furthermore appears as if the interview-participants see

political correctness as an obsession. The following posts can indicate that the interview-



participantsbelievethatpeoplehavelosttheircommonsense,andpoliticalcorrectnessisin

thatmattertakingover.

“Thateh, theperspective inrelationtowhatelse isgoingon in theworld, then it

seems like… like some kind of sought issue in my eyes that eh. You ascribe it a

greater taboo than itactually shouldhave,because it’sa commercial for clothes,

andofcourseIcanseethatitcanbean,eh,issue,butyea,Ithinkitistokindoflike

take focus away from problems that might be more real.” (Appendix 22,


“Eh,wellagainIthinkit’skindofaeh,hyper-reaction.Eh,Icanseethatone,maybe

coloredpeople, could se it as a biggerproblem, because it figuratively looks like,

youknow,itislikeputtingtwothingsupagainsteachother.ButIdon’tknow,Ijust

think,again,thatpeople’sreactionmakesitarace-issue,insteadofwhatitreallyis.

Again,becauseitacommercialwithtwochildrenwithclothes,Imean.”(Appendix

22,participantno.2,ll.50–owntranslation)

“Whydoes ithave tobeabout raceall the time?Becauseablackboy is standing

thereinahoodiethatsays“CoolestMonkeyinTheJungle”…Iknowthat‘monkey’,

aroundblackpeople havebeena really ugly insult once, but I just think thatwe

havedevelopedenoughandliveinamodernsocietythatitshouldnotbeaproblem

anymoretothinkaboutwhatyoudressyourkidsin.Imean,itshouldfittoallkids,

no matter your skin color…” (Appendix 23, participant no. 3, ll. 85 – own

translation)

“Well, we are so educated that youwould think that peoplewould have amore

developedthoughofmindthanwhathasturnedouttobethetruth.Tothink,that

theyprobablydidn’thavethispointofviewontheworldanymore.Buttherewill

always be people that does.” (Appendix 27, participant no. 7, ll. 194 – own

translation)



As the first two parts of the analysis has shown, political correctness can function as a

censorship.Thefirstquotefromthissection,mentionsthatthehateholdersareascribingthe

issue of racism a greater taboo, as the hateholders associate the H&M advertisementwith

racism.Thiscouldindicatethatpoliticalcorrectnessalsofunctionsasadeception,astheuse

ofpoliticalcorrectness,inthematteroftheH&Madvertisement,makestheissueofracisma

taboo,asitbecometosensitivetoaddressit.

Thefactthattheinterview-participantsfindthereactionsfromthehateholdersonTwitterto

be overreactions can also indicate that they believe political correctness to be taking over

people’scommonsense.

“Eh,Imaybealsothinkthatit’sjust,wellithasbeenanoverreactiontoallofthis.”


“Thecontroversyarisesonlybecauseofpeopleascribingit,Ithink.”(Appendix22,


“Ithinkit’soverblown.Ithinksetsoffwaytoomuch”(Appendix26,participantno.

6,ll,80–owntranslation)

Idon’tthinkaboutracismatall. Imean, I think it’sstagedracismthen, tocreate

somesortofdebate.”(Appendix26,participantno.6,ll.94–owntranslation)

Theinterview-participantsappeartothinkofthereactionsasbeingexaggerated,whichmight

beduetothefactthattheydonotseeanyracismintheimage.

“Well, a firstmy thought is that it’s just twokidswearing shirts ina commercial

trying to sell some clothes.” (Appendix 21, participant no. 1, ll. 21 – own

translation)

“Well,prettysweaters,haha”eh,yeaIdon’tknow.Ijustseetheclothes”(Appendix

22,participantno.2,ll.18–owntranslation)



“Thatit’stwosweetchildreninsomenicesweatshirts” (Appendix23,participant


“Well,Iknowofthecase,butmyfirstthoughtwasthatiswasjusttwoboyswearing

hoodies. Eh, I must admit that.” (Appendix 25, participant no. 5, ll. 25 – own

translation)

From theextracts above,political correctnessappears tobeviewedas anobsessionby the

faith-holders,whichcouldindicatethatpoliticalcorrectnessinfluencescrisesonsocialmedia

negatively. People are obsessed with being political correct, which leads back to political

correctness as a censorship. People are not speaking theirmind, because they have to act

politically correct, which can make it difficult for people to see beside the political

correctness. As some of the interview-participants note in the examplesmentioned above,

people are seeking the issue of racism and see only the politically incorrect action. By

ascribingacommercialofahoodieanissueofracism,politicalcorrectnessalsofunctionsasa

deception,whereisbecomestoosensitivetoaddressracismonsocialmedia.Theinterview-

participants’ view on the reactions as being exaggerated and their expressions of not

comprehending them could also indicate that political correctness is being viewed as an

obsession.TheydonotbelievethatH&Mhasacted inapolitical incorrectmanner,andfind

the crisis to be an exaggeration, which could indicate that political correctness does not

influence a crisis on socialmedia, in their point of view. However, as the examples in the

beginningofthisthemeshow,theinterview-participantsbelievethatH&Mhasactedpolitical

incorrect, when they take the hateholder statements into consideration. It is therefore

possible to argue, that political correctness influences crises on social media, as both

hateholders and faith-holders of the organization in crisis are to express their attitudes on

socialmedia.



7.0DISCUSSION

On the basis of the analysis it becomes very interesting to discuss the faith-holder type of

stakeholder,asitappearsasiftherearedifferenttypestodistinguishbetween.

The analysis of the case study showed that political correctness in somematter influences

crisis in a negative manner. It became clear the both faith-holders and hateholders are

influenced by political correctness, and that both types of stakeholders take part in the

rhetorical arena as crisis communicators. On the basis of the findings in the analysis, it

became interesting to discuss the role of the faith-holders. According to the theory of

stakeholder engagement, Luoma-aho (2015) argues that faith-holders are the stakeholders

whoarepositivelyengagedinanorganizationandparticipateinthecrisiscommunicationina

positive manner. This participation must be public in order to be valuable for the

organization.Faith-holdersarethusexpressingtheirpositiveexperiencesandopinions,hence

acting as crisis-communicators and participating in the rhetorical arena. Furthermore,

Luoma-aho (2015) argues how positive comments from faith-holders are important for an

organization, and Coombs andHolladay (2012) argue thatwhen amessage is repeated on

socialmediamorepotentialactorscouldentertherhetoricalarena.Thismustthusmean; if

faith-holders’opinionsandfeelingsaresharedonsocialmedia,morepeopleareexposedto

thesepositivecommentsregardingthecrisis,whichwouldthusresultinloweringthecrisis.

During the analysis it became clear, that stakeholders do not need to participate in the

rhetorical arena, and share or comment on the crisis on social media, in order to be

characterized as a faith-holder. From the conducted interviews, it became clear that the

interview-participants could be characterized as faith-holders, as they supported H&M by

continuingtopurchaseitsproducts.Inotherwords,faith-holdersdonotnecessarilyneedto

enter the rhetorical arena on social media to be considered a faith-holder. It is therefore

possibletoconsidertwotypesoffaith-holders–activeandpassivefaith-holders.

Theactivefaith-holdersarethefaith-holders,whoparticipateinthecrisiscommunicationon

socialmedia,byeitherpostingtheiropinionsandfeelingsregardingacrisisorsharingposts

thatsupporttheorganization.Thus,theactivefaith-holdersaresupportinganddefendingthe

organizationincrisis.



Thepassive faith-holders arenotparticipating in the crisis communicationon socialmedia,

and are only watching the crisis playing out in the rhetorical arena on social media. The

passivefaith-holdersdonotcommentorsharepoststhatportraytheirpointofview,asthey

donotwishtobemisinterpretedorhungoutonsocialmedia.Theyfindsocialmediatobea

placeof relentlessandunfilteredpostingof feelingsandopinions,andbelieve thatmuchof

the intended communication is lost. This means that the passive faith-holders are not

participatingintherhetoricalarenaonsocialmedia.Itispossibletoarguethattheyperhaps

participate in another rhetorical arena, which ismore private, such as a conversation in a

closed group, lunch at work or in the private conversation between friends and family.

However, the value of these faith-holders is perhaps not as high, as thosewho share their

opiniononline,astheopinionsandfeelingshastobepubliclyvisible,inordertobevaluable

foranorganization.

Luoma-aho (2015) argues that faith-holders can turn into hateholders, if their needs and

expectationsarenotmet.Theanalysisshowedthattheinterview-participantswouldnotturn

into hateholders, as they indicate that they cannot comprehend the posts posted by the

hateholders, and thus not identify themselves with them. The passive faith-holders of this

casestudydonotwishtopubliclyparticipateinthecrisiscommunicationonsocialmedia,as

they simply do not see any issue with the advertisement. As mentioned earlier,

misinterpretations and the possibility of being negatively hung out and judged on social

mediakeepthemfromportrayingtheiropinionsandfeelingsonline.Thismightbeduetothe

languagethatisbeingusedonsocialmedia,asoneparticipantpointedouttheuseoftheword

“fuck”isatypicalwayofexpressingoneselfonsocialmedia.Theunfilteredandtop-of-mind

thoughts thusmake political correctness on socialmedia a very sensitive andmaybe even

inflamedarea. Ifpeoplearespeaking theirmindsonsocialmedia,otheractorsarequick to

point out thesepeople, and, as oneof the interview-participantsmentioned, one could risk

being hung out on socialmedia, either in closed groups or in public places, for something,

which was not intended they way is was received. This again brings up the notion of

misinterpretations, which perhaps also brings inflammation to political correctness. The

professionalandfactualsideofimportantissuesisoftennotpossibletobringfourthinonline

firestorms,aspeopleappeartobeveryone-sided.



8.0CONCLUSSION

Aconclusionwillbeelaboratedoninthefollowingsection,inordertofinishthisthesis.From

the methodological perspective and theoretical framework, it was possible to analyze the

influenceofpoliticalcorrectnessinrelationtocrisesonsocialmedia.Theproblemstatement

mentionedbeneathwillbeansweredinthefollowingconclusion.

Ø Howdoespoliticalcorrectnessinfluenceacrisisonsocialmediaforan

organization?

Fromtheanalysisconductedabove, ithasbecomeclearthatpoliticalcorrectness influences

crisesonsocialmedia inanegativemanner.Thebeliefbyhateholders thatH&Mhadacted

politicallyincorrectgeneratednegativeopinionsviapubliclyvisiblepostsonthesocialmedia

Twitter.ThesepostsindicatedthatH&Mhadactedinanirresponsibleandunethicalmanner.

“Thelack”ofpoliticalcorrectnesscouldthusdamagetheorganizationsreputation.Thebelief

by faith-holders that H&M had not acted politically incorrect generated positive posts,

portrayingopinions and feelings, in theother end.Thepostsby the faith-holders indicated

thattheydidnotbelievethatH&Mhadactedinanirresponsibleandunethicalmanner.These

twotypesofstakeholderswerethemainactorswithintherhetoricalarenaonsocialmedia,

andwere thus crisis communicators of theH&Mcrisis.During the analysis it became clear

that some faith-holders did not take part in the rhetorical arena on social media, but

continuedtopurchaseH&Mproducts,andthussupportingtheorganizationinthatmanner.

Some of the faith-holderswere of the impression that firestormswere “just” a part of the

onlineworldtoday,anddidthusnotpaymuchattentiontothem.

Politicalcorrectnessstillappearstoinfluencecrisesinanegativemanner,andonthebasisof

the analysis, it is possible to argue that political correctness function as a censorship. The

interview-participantsdidnotwishtospeaktheirmindonsocialmedia–neitherregarding

theH&Mcrisisnorotherissuesofsamecharacter,astheyareafraidofbeingmisunderstood,

misinterpretedorevenhungoutinpublic.Politicalcorrectnessisthushinderingsomefaith-

holdersfromtakingpartintherhetoricalarenaonsocialmedia,andtheorganizationincrisis

is therefore more exposed to negative associations. This can damage the organizations

reputationfurthermore.WiththeTwitter-postsfromthefaith-holders,itishoweverpossible



to argue that political correctness does not function as a censorship, as they express their

opinionsabout thecrisisand thehateholders reactions, and thussupportsH&Mduring the

crisis.

Politicalcorrectnesscanfurthermorefunctionsasanobsession,astheanalysisindicatesthat

the phenomenon has taking over people’s common sense, and that the use of political

correctnesshasbecometoomuch.Politicalcorrectnessisbeingusedtoapoint,wherefaith-

holders find it to be too much, and do therefore not wish to participate in the crisis

communication. The further consequence of that is that only thehateholdersparticipate in

thecrisiscommunication,makingthenegativecommentsthemajority.

This thesis shows an overall contradiction of political correctness in relation to crises on

social media. People do not favor political correctness, and disassociate themselves with

peoplepracticingthephenomenon.However,politicalcorrectnessisoftenrelatedtosensitive

issues,whichmakespeoplepracticeitwhenaddressingsuchissues–ornotevenaddressing

them, at all. It is therefore important for organizations to consider the role of political

correctness in both crisis communication, but also in relation to its marketing and PR-

strategy,asitappearstohaveinfluencedtheH&Mcrisis.



9.0BIBLIOGRAPHY

ARTICLES

Braun, Viginia, og Victoria Clarke. »Using thematic analysis in psychology.« Qualitative

ResearchinPsychology,17.July2006:77-101.

Flyvbjerg, Bent. »Five Misunderstandings About Case-Study Research, Qualitative Inquiry.«

SAGEJournals,2.April2006:1-35.

Herzogenrath-Amelung, Heidi. »The new instantaneity: how social media are helping us

privilegethe(politically)correctoverthetrue.«Media,Culture&Society,.2016:1080-1089.

Kozinets,RobertV.»TheFieldbehindtheScreen:UsingNetnographyforMarketingResearch

inOnlineCommunities.«TheJournalofMarketingResearch,.February2002,Vol.39udg.:61-

72.

Luoma-aho, Vilma. »Understanding stakeholder engagement: Faith-holders, Hateholders &

Fakeholders.«ResearchJournaloftheInstituteforPublicRelations,.2015:1-27.

Rost,Katja,LeaStahel,ogBrunoSFrey.»DigitalSocialNormEnforcement:OnlineFirestorms

inSocialMedia.«PLoSONE,17.June2016:1-26.

Wenneberg,SørenBarleo.»Socialkontruktivismesomvidenskabsteori-Sisyfos'videnskab.«,.

2002:1-13.

Wikström, Peter. »No one is “pro-politically correct”: Positive construals of political

correctnessinTwitterconversations.«NordicJournalofEnglishStudies,.January2016:159-

170.



BOOKS

Bryman, Alan. SocialResearchMethods. Fourth Edition. NewYork: OxfordUniveristy Press,

2012.

Collin,Finn,andSimoKøppe.HumanistiskVidenskabsteori.København:LindhardtandRinghof

ForlagA/S,2014.[HumanisticTheoryofScience]

Coombs, W Timothy, and Sherry J. Holladay. The Handbook of Crisis Communication. Hong

Kong:BlackwellPublishingLtd,2010.

Frandsen, Finn, and Winni Johansen. Krisekommunikation. Frederiksberg: Forlaget

Smafundslitteratur,2007.[CrisisCommunication]

Yin,RobertK.CaseStudyResearch-DesignandMethods.London:SAGEPublications,2009.

CHAPTERSOFABOOK

Kvale,Steinar.»Introductionto interviewresearch.« inDoingInterviews,afSteinarKvale,2-

11.London:SAGEPublications,Ltd.,2007.

Kvale, Steinar. »Planning an interview study .« inDoing Interviews, af Steinar Kvale, 34-51.

London:SAGEPublications,Ltd.,2007.

Kvale, Steinar. »Transcribing interviews.« in Doing Interviews, af Steinar Kvale, 93-101.

London:SAGEPublications,Ltd.,2007.

WEBSITES

abc13 News.H&M issues new apology over 'Coolestmonkey in the jungle' hoodiewith black

child. 10. January 2018. http://abc13.com/society/h-m-apologizes-for-using-black-child-in-

slogan-about-monkey/2913043/(accessedonMay17,2018).



Berlingske.dk.H&MogBestsellerbrændertonsvisnyttøjpådanskeanlæg. 15.October2017.

https://www.b.dk/mode/hm-og-bestseller-braender-tonsvis-nyt-toej-paa-danske-anlaeg

(accessedonApril14,2018).

Lifewire.com. What Is Twitter & How Does It Work? 5. February 2018.

https://www.lifewire.com/what-exactly-is-twitter-2483331(accessedonMarch28,2018).

OnmicoreAgency.com. Twitter by theNumbers: Stats, Demographics & Fun Facts. 1. January

2018.https://www.omnicoreagency.com/twitter-statistics/(accessedonMarch28,2018).

SoundVenue.dk.G-EazydropperogsåH&M-samarbejde–skandaleneksplodereryderligere.10.

January 2018. http://soundvenue.com/mode/2018/01/g-eazy-dropper-ogsaa-hm-

samarbejde-skandalen-eksploderer-yderligere-291216(accessedonMarch12,2018).

Szilágyi, Dr. Anna. »A linguist explains how the far-right hijacked political correctness .«

Quartz.dk. 18. January 2017. https://qz.com/886552/a-linguist-explains-how-the-far-right-

hijacked-political-correctness/#(accessedonMarch25,2018).

TheWashingtonPost.H&Mapologizesforshowingblackchildwearinga‘monkeyinthejungle’

sweatshirt, by Lindsey Bever. 8. January 2018.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2018/01/08/hm-apologizes-for-

showing-black-child-wearing-a-monkey-in-the-jungle-

sweatshirt/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.fd9c13145541(accessedonMay17,2018).



10.0APPENDIXES

10.1APPENDIX1–TWITTER-POSTNO.1




10.7APPENDIX7–PICTUREOFTHETWOH&MHOODIES’

10.8APPENDIX8–TWITTER-POSTNO.1FORTHEINTERVIEWS




10.10APPENDIX10–TWITTER-POSTNO3FORTHEINTERVIEWS




10.12APPENDIX12–H&MAPOLOGYONTWITTER



10.13APPENDIX13–H&MAPOLOGYONINSTAGRAM



10.14APPENDIX14–H&M’SPRECENSEONTWITTERANDINSTAGRAM



10.15APPENDIX15–FACEBOOK-POSTRECRUITINGINTERVIEW-PARTICIPANTS

Englishtranslation:

“!HELP! Do you have approximately half an hour that you can take out of you

calendar,areyou18+yearsofage,anddoyoushopatH&M, then Iwouldreally

liketoborrowthathalfanhour!

Inrelationtomythesis,Iamseekinginterview-participants,whowantstoanswer

some questions regarding H&M and their “The Coolest Monkey in The Jungle” –

situation.

Iamwilling to jumponmybikeor take thebus tocometoyou,andareyounot

livinginAalborg,atelephone-interviewwilldo.

Pleasesendmeamailatahju13@student.aau.dkortextmehereoronMessenger,

thenIcanexplainfurther.I’llgivecoffeeandchocolate!Orshare,forGodssake!

Thankyousomuch!”



10.16APPENDIX16–COLOR-CODINGSOCIALMEDIACOMMUNICATIONPOSITIVENEGATIVEOVER-REACTIONHARMLESSUNDERSTANDINGWONDERSOCIALBACKGROUNDRACISMUNCOMPREHENSINGPOLITICALCORRECTNESS



10.17APPENDIX17–INITIALCODINGSCHEMEFORTWITTER-POSTS

Code Descriptionofcode ExamplesPositive Whenpositive

expressions/feelingsaremadetowardsH&Mandthecrisis

• APP.8.2,Twitter-postno.2:“TheH&M***isjustirony.Ihighlydoubttheywerelike“let’sputthemonkeyhoodieonthen*****baby”likey’allmakingitseem

• APP.8.5,Twitter-postno.5:“Y’allcanfellhowy’allfellabouttheh&mhoodiesituation,Ithoughitwascute(emoji)sueme.”

Negative Whennegativeexpressions/feelingsaremadetowardsH&Mandthecrisis

• APP.8.1,Twitter-postno.1:“Marketingfail.H&Mputsablackchildinahoodiethatreads:“I’mthecoolestmonkeyinthejungle.”Andnowfolksarepretendingliketheydon’tknowthatblackchildrenhavelongbeenraciallycharacterizedasmonkeys.”

• APP.8.3,Twitter-postno.3:“There´saWhiteSupremacistwhoworksforH&Mwhothoughitwasfunnytomakeablackboymodelahoodiethatsaid“CoolestMonkeyInTheJungle”.”

• APP.8.9,Twitter-postno.2fortheinterviews:“Fuckyou@hmI’mgladyourstoresareshutdowninSouthAfrica!Theydon’twantyouthere!Nexttimefuckingthinkbeforeyoudosomestupidshitlikethat!#FuckYou#HM#Racism#Africa.”

• APP.8.10,Twitter-postno.3fortheinterviews:“[email protected]’snotcoincident.Iknow#racismwhenIseeit.”

Politicalcorrectness

Whenitisexpressedthattheuseofablackchildandthewordmonkeytogetheriswrongorright

• APP.8.1,Twitter-postno.1:“Marketingfail.H&Mputsablackchildinahoodiethat



reads:“I’mthecoolestmonkeyinthejungle.”Andnowfolksarepretendingliketheydon’tknowthatblackchildrenhavelongbeenraciallycharacterizedasmonkeys.”

• APP.8.6,Twitter-postno.6:“Theygotalilblackboyinamonkeyhoodie.Ofcourseit’soffensivebutit’ssoobvious,I’mhystericaloverthelackofawarenessbyH&M.”

• APP.8.8–Twitter-postno.1fortheinterviews:“@thismorning@hmThisseemslikesuchapettyissueconsideringalltheterriblethingshappeningintheworldrightnow.Getsomeperspective,people!#racism“ThisMorning.”

• APP.8.10,Twitter-postno.3fortheinterviews:“[email protected]’snotcoincident.Iknow#racismwhenIseeit.”

• APP.8.11,Twitter-postno.4fortheinterviews:“Everyoneisloosingtheirshitover@hmadvert.Whymakeeverythingoranythingracial?#MoveOn“CalmDown“TheCoolestMonekyInTheJungle.”



10.18APPENDIX18–INITIALCODINGSCHEMEFORINTERVIEWS

Code Descriptionofcode ExamplesSocialmedia Whenaparticipantexpresses

somethingaboutsocialmedia,theuseofitanditsrelationto“TheCoolestMonkeyintheJungle”

• P1,ll.18:“Yes,socialmediawasthefirstplaceIsawit”

• P1,ll.122:“IthinkalotabouthowIexpressmyselfonsocialmedia,because,eh…ifitisn’tsomethinginaprivateconversationorifyoudon’thaveaprivateprofile,ifit’ssomethingthatcomesouttoeveryone,thenit’softensomethingthat’sgoingtobethereforever”

• P2,ll.97:“Eh,Idon’treallysharethingsposts.I’mveryinactiveonsocialmedia.ButifIhadtosharesomething,itwouldprobablybesomeofthosewhoconsidertheissuesaboutwhatweshouldreallycareabout”

• P2,ll.101:“ThisislikeanInternet-warriorsyndrome,thateverytimesomethinghappensthatwecanshareandgetangryabout,Iwouldprobablydefend,ifIwastosharesomething”

• P2,ll.107:“…becauseIknowthatyou’llrarelygetamatter-of-factkindofdebate,ifyoustartitaplacelikethat(socialmedia).

• P3,ll.100:“Itrynottousesocialmediaforthatkindofthings.Alsobecause,everythingcanbemisunderstoodonsocialmedia”

• P3,ll.120:“therearejustsomuchthat’slostonawrittenmedium”

• P4,ll.134:“Because,ifyoutalktoeachother,thenyouhavethepossibilitytogetmore



thingsout,andyouhavethepossibilitytounderstandbodylanguageandhow…youknow,getitall,insteadofjustsittingathomebehindyourscreen.Thenyoumightwritesomethingthatyouwouldn’thavesaid,ifyouwerestanding…”

• P5,ll.64:“It’sbecauseitseemssoexaggerated.‘Fuckyou’,Imean,it’sthetypeofcommunicationyouseeontheInternettoday.It’sso,eh,Imean,it’ssostraitforward,soit’slikethethoughtswehave,atthemomentwehavethem,weneedtowritethem,Imean,it’ssocarelessinsomeway”

• P5,ll.114:“Idon’tliketogiveitairtime,whenit’sthingslikethis”

• P6,ll.19:“ThefirsttimeIsawitwaswhenitbecameafirestorm.OnFacebook,Ithink.Itexplodedandpeoplewerewriting‘thisisterribleandhorrible’”

• P6,ll.135:“Butagain,it’sthisthing,ifit’sjustafirestorm,thenIthinkit’salittleone-sided,kindoflikeaherdmentality.Trytofindyourownopinion,insteadofjustgoingwithwhat’seasy.Imean,somekindoftrend,like.NowwehateonH&M,thenit’s“JensensBøfhus”,thenit’ssomethingelse.”

• P6,ll.147.Interviewer:“Doyouthinkitiseasieronsocialmediathaninreallife?”Participantno.6:“Mh,thenyoucansitthereandhidebehindyouscreen.Thenyouwon’tbeconfronted,andyouaren’tmetbesomeonewhoahsadifferent



attitudethanyourself.Soyouarechallengedinthesameway.Everyonecanbeawarrioronakeyboard.”

• P7,ll.52:“Well,it’satypicalreactioningeneral.Peoplewouldalsoreactlikethatawayfromsocialmedia,butyes,evenmoretypicalreactiononsocialmedia.Imean,thatyoujustinfuriateyourself,andthenbecausethepersonisanonymous,orwhodoIsayit,itdoesn’tsayaname,thenitisjusteasiertogetangryaboutsomethingandthenhide.”

• P7,ll.112:“Well,Ithink…again,thisthingabout…Ithinklikethis,thatitcouldalsohitme,fiIsharesomethingandpeopledon’tagreewithme.Imean,ifyouhavesomeoneinyourcircleoffriends,orsomethinglikethat,thatagreeonthepostI’msharingisracist,then‘whywouldyousharethispersonsmeaningsabout…’.”

• P7,ll.122:“Iwouldn’tifitwasnegative.Idon’tliketosharenegativethings,becauseIdon’tseeanyreasontodothatortospreadthatkindofmessage.”

• P7,ll.138:“IthinkIwouldrathertalkface-to-face,ifIhaveto.Ifforinstanceoneofmyfriendspostedsuchathing,Iwouldprobablybringitup,whenwewouldbetogether,insteadofonline.”Interviewer:“Whydon’tyouwanttodoitonline?”Participantno.7:“Ithinkithassomethingtodowithpeopletwistingit.Imean,youcantakescreenshotsofthings,andthebelike‘seewhatthisidiotsays’.Youknow,postthemIdifferentforums,where



it’skindoflike,wellthisidiotdefendsH&M,orsomethinglikethat.Youcandoitlikethat.Idon’tusesocialmediathatmuchforthosekindofthings.Ijustquicklytakealook,andthenthat’sjustit.”

PoliticalCorrectness

Whenaparticipantexpresseshisorheropinionaboutpoliticalcorrectness/orwhenaparticipantexpressessomethingrelatedtopoliticalcorrectness

• P2,ll.18:“Well,nicesweaters,haha!Eh,yea,Idon’tknow.AllIseeistheclothes”

• P5,ll.153:“(…)Idon’tthinkthatiswasH&M’sintension.Ithinktheywerecaughtinaworld,wherewetalkalotaboutracism,andwhereweareveryconsiderateabout.”

• P5,ll.174:“Ithinkit’saveryprettygreensweaterthattheyhaveputthissweetboyin,andeh,Ithinkitisreallysadthatweseeskincolorandnotjustasweetboy.That’stheworldIhopemyownsongrowsupin–thatyouarejustasweetboy,nomatterifyouhaveoneortwoarm,ifyou’reblack,blueorwhite.”

• P6,ll.26:“CoolestMonkeyintheJungle,it’sablackboyinahoodie,andit’sawhiteboyinahoodie,eh.‘survivalexpert’.Eh,yeawhatdoIthink?Well,Iwouldn’tgetthatassociationmyself…or,yesIactuallythinkImight,ifIthinkit’sablackboy.IrememberwhenLineBaunDanielsenin“Go’aftenDanmark”said‘itthatamonkey’,andthenitwasablackguy.Soitsprobablyacommonassociation.”

• P6,ll.110:“Because,Ithinktheracism-cardisdrawnwaytoooften.Youcan’tdoanything,thenyou’restigmatizing,andthenyou’reracists,andthenyou´rebla,bla,bla,bla.Why



notjustbearoundeachother,andthensayweareallhumans.”

• P6,ll.167:“Well,Ithinkthisracism-cardisbeingdrawnwaytoooften.Ithinkwehavegotafearofinvolvementof,withaDanishpointofview,ethnicalDanishpeople,like‘ohno,wedon’tdaretosaythat,butalso…yea,probablymostlyethnicalDanishpeople.Thatwehavebecomeafraidofexpressingourself,nottosaythatweshouldexpressourselfinaracialmanner,butthatwehavebecomesoafraidtoinvolve,andmanynewDanishpeoplealsodrawtheracism-cardandsay‘well,wecan’t,theyarejustracistallofthem’.”

• P6,ll.189:“Well,againIthinkitisalittletwo-parted,becauseifyoutakethisnaiveapproachtowardsit,whichIkindofthinkitis,andsaythatthey(H&M)reallydidn’tthinkaboutit,andthatitwasamistake,andthat…Imean,ifit’slikethat,thenIthink,wellokay,it’sstupid,butit’samistake,ithappens,itshuman.Butifit’slike‘okay,listen,letgostirthingsup,andgetournameallovertheworldpress’,whichImightbelieveisthecase,thenIthinkitispoliticalincorrect,becausethenIthinkyouplayonsomethingthatisalreadyamajorissueImanysocieties,namelyracism.AndthenIthinkit’swrong.Butitdependsontheapproach.”

• P7,ll.81:“Imean,tosay,whydopeoplethinklikethis.Itisaverydevelopedmindthatapersondonotthinkcolor,or



howdoIsayit.”• P7,ll.170:“Idon’tthinkabout

thatatall!Ihaveseenit,thenIactuallyforgotaboutit,andshoppedatH&M.”

• P7,ll.185:“Politically,yes.Imean,ifyouhavetolookpolitical,lookatskincolor,orhowtosayit,thenitwasn’tasmartmove,andwhentheshirtsaysmonkey,Imean…theycouldhavetoldthemselvesthatitwasn’tsmarttoputablackboyinthesweaterwithmonkeyon.”

Uncomprehending Whenaparticipantisuncomprehendingtowardsastatement

• P6,ll.127:“Morelikesuchatorchlightparadesaying‘deathoverH&M’.Ithinkit’sridiculous.”

• P7,ll.18:“Well,Ididn’tthinkthatmuchaboutit.Ididn’tthinkaboutitthefirsttimeeither,Ijustthoughtitwasaprettysweater.Ididn’tthinkaboutthatfactthatitwasablackchildthatwaswearingit,ifIcansayitlikethat?(…)Ididn’tthinkaboutthemeaningofitatall.”

• P7,ll.174:“Whereyouthink,ImeanH&M,IhaveshoppedclothesatH&Mallthetime,andwhenthere’snothingwrongwiththequality,Imean.ThenIdon’tseeanyreasontonotshopthereanymore.”

• P7,ll.194:“Well,wearesoeducatedthatyouwouldthinkthatpeoplewouldhaveamoredevelopedthoughofmindthanwhathasturnedouttobethetruth.Tothink,thattheyprobablydidn’thavethispointofviewontheworldanymore.Buttherewillalwaysbepeoplethatdoes.”



Overreaction WhenaparticipantexpressesthatthereactionstotheH&Mcrisisareexaggerated

• P2,ll.89:“Iverymuchagreewiththose,whosaysthatpeopleneedtorelax”

• P5,ll.55:“Eh,onthefaceofit,Ialsothinkit’sapettyissue”

• P6,ll.66:“Idon’treallythinkthatyoucanputthesetwothingsupagainsteachother.Imean,‘alltheterriblethingshappeningintheworldrightnow’,Imean,ofcoursethereareterriblethingshappening,therealwayswillbe.Idon’tthinkthatiscomparable.Idon’tthinkthatyoucanputalltheterriblethingshappeningintheworldupagainstapictureofalittleboy.”

• P6,ll.80:“Ithinkit’soverblown.Ithinksetsoffwaytoomuch”

• P6,ll.94:“Idon’tthinkaboutracismatall.Imean,Ithinkit’sstagedracismthen,tocreatesomesortofdebate.”

• P7,ll.33:“Yes.Well,its…Iseewhatthispersonmeans.Imean,therearesomanyotherthingsthatyoushoulddomoreabout,thanthisinquotationmarks,littlething.Youcanconsiderotherthinginstead,Ithink.”

• P7,ll.45:“Yes…it’saprettyextremestatement.Imean,Idon’t…,evenwhenIsawitthefirsttime,Ididn’teventhinkaboutit.



10.19APPENDIX19–FINALCODINGSCHEME

Theme Code Descriptionofcode ExamplesTheH&MfirestormsfromaDanishperspective-Howfirestormsareviewedonsocialmedia.Howpeopleusesocialmedia,whenitcomestofirestorms,andpeoplesreactionstofirestorms

Socialmedia

-Whenaparticipantexpressessomethingaboutsocialmedia,theuseofitanditsrelationto“TheCoolestMonkeyintheJungle”

• P1,ll.18:“Yea,socialmediawasthefirstplaceIsawit”

• P1,ll.122:“IthinkalotabouthowIexpressmyselfonsocialmedia,because,eh…ifitisn’tsomethinginaprivateconversationorifyoudon’thaveaprivateprofile,ifit’ssomethingthatcomesouttoeveryone,thenit’softensomethingthat’sgoingtobethereforever”

• P2,ll.12:“Eh,IthinkIsawitthefirsttimeonFacebook,perhaps.”

• P2,ll.97:“Eh,Idon’treallyshareposts.I’mveryinactiveonsocialmedia.ButifIhadtosharesomething,itwouldprobablybesomeofthosewhoconsidertheissuesaboutwhatweshouldreallycareabout”

• P2,ll.101:“This



islikeanInternet-warriorsyndrome,thateverytimesomethinghappensthatwecanshareandgetangryabout,Iwouldprobablydefend,ifIwastosharesomething”

• P2,ll.107:“…becauseIknowthatyou’llrarelygetamatter-of-factkindofdebate,ifyoustartitaplacelikethat(socialmedia).

• P3,ll.100:“Itrynottousesocialmediaforthatkindofthings.Alsobecause,everythingcanbemisunderstoodonsocialmedia”

• P3,ll.111:“Again,misinterpretationsofeverythingassoonasyousharesomethingthathassomethingdotowithracism,orhassomethingtodowithpedophiles,oranimalcrueltyorwhatever,well,thenpeopleinterpretitindifferentways,andthenyouwill



bejudgedinonewayoranother.Sono,that’swhyIdon’tcareaboutsharing.”

• P3,ll.120:“therearejustsomuchthat’slostonawrittenmedium”

• P4,ll.19:“IthinkIsawitonsocialmedia,actually.Aftersomeonesaidsomedifferentthingsaboutit.”

• P4,ll.134:“Because,ifyoutalktoeachother,thenyouhavethepossibilitytogetmorethingsout,andyouhavethepossibilitytounderstandbodylanguageandhow…youknow,getitall,insteadofjustsittingathomebehindyourscreen.Thenyoumightwritesomethingthatyouwouldn’thavesaid,ifyouwerestanding…”

• P5,ll.14:“Eh,onFacebook.Actually.Therewerealotoffussaboutit,andthenIthink…itwassomekindofopinion-formingsitethatposted



it.”• P5,ll.64:“It’s

becauseitseemssoexaggerated.‘Fuckyou’,Imean,it’sthetypeofcommunicationyouseeontheInternettoday.It’sso,eh,Imean,it’ssostraitforward,soit’slikethethoughtswehave,atthemomentwehavethem,weneedtowritethem,Imean,it’ssocarelessinsomeway”

• P5,ll.114:“Idon’tliketogiveitairtime,whenit’sthingslikethis”

• P6,ll.19:“ThefirsttimeIsawitwaswhenitbecameafirestorm.OnFacebook,Ithink.Itexplodedandpeoplewerewriting‘thisisterribleandhorrible’”

• P6,ll.121:“Thosefirestormsandcontributingtothem,Iamnotgoingtodothat.Imean,ifIhaveanopinionaboutsomething,Iwouldthinkthatitwascool



enough,buttoridealongonsomewavejusttobeapartofit,isirrelevant,Ithink.”

• P6,ll.135:“Butagain,it’sthisthing,ifit’sjustafirestorm,thenIthinkit’salittleone-sided,kindoflikeaherdmentality.Trytofindyourownmeaning,insteadofjustgoingwithwhat’seasy.Imean,somekindoftrend,like.NowwehateonH&M,thenit’s“JensensBøfhus”,thenit’ssomethingelse.”

• P6,ll.147.Interviewer:“Doyouthinkitiseasieronsocialmediathaninreallife?”Participantno.6:“Mh,thenyoucansitthereandhidebehindyouscreen.Thenyouwon’tbeconfronted,andyouaren’tmetbysomeonewhohasadifferentattitudethanyourself.Soyouaren’tchallengedinthesameway.Everyonecanbeawarriorona



keyboard.”• P7,ll.52:“Well,

it’satypicalreactioningeneral.Peoplewouldalsoreactlikethatawayfromsocialmedia,butyes,evenmoretypicalreactiononsocialmedia.Imean,thatyoujustinfuriateyourself,andthenbecausethepersonisanonymous,orhowdoIsayit,itdoesn’tsayaname,thenitisjusteasiertogetangryaboutsomethingandthenhide.”

• P7,ll.112:“Well,Ithink…again,thisthingabout…Ithinklikethis,thatitcouldalsohitme,ifIsharesomethingandpeopledon’tagreewithme.Imean,ifyouhavesomeoneinyourcircleoffriends,orsomethinglikethat,thatagreeonthepostI’msharingisracist,then‘whywouldyousharethispersonsmeaningsabout…’.”



• P7,ll.122:“Iwouldn’tifitwasnegative.Idon’tliketosharenegativethings,becauseIdon’tseeanyreasontodothatortospreadthatkindofmessage.”

• P7,ll.138:“IthinkIwouldrathertalkface-to-face,ifIhaveto.Ifforinstanceoneofmyfriendspostedsuchathing,Iwouldprobablybringitup,whenwewouldbetogether,insteadofonline.”Interviewer:“Whydon’tyouwanttodoitonline?”Participantno.7:“Ithinkithassomethingtodowithpeopletwistingit.Imean,youcantakescreenshotsofthings,andthenbelike‘seewhatthisidiotsays’.Youknow,postthemindifferentforums,whereit’skindoflike,wellthisidiotdefendsH&M,orsomethinglikethat.Youcandoitlikethat.I



Overreaction

-WhenaparticipantexpressesthatthereactionstotheH&Mcrisisareexaggerated

don’tusesocialmediathatmuchforthosekindofthings.Ijustquicklytakealook,andthenthat’sjustit.”

• P1,ll.50:“Ialso

thinkit’s…it’sareallyheatedstatement.”

• P1,ll.85:“Eh,Imaybealsothinkthatit’sjust,wellithasbeenanoverreactiontoallofthis.”

• P1,ll.114:“Well,yea…Imaybethinkit’sanoverreactiontosaythattheentireH&M-concernisracists.”

• P2,ll.68:“Thecontroversyarisesonlybecauseofpeopleascribingit,Ithink.”

• P2,ll.89:“Iverymuchagreewiththose,whosaysthatpeopleneedtorelax”

• P3,ll.30:“IthinkIagreealotinherwaytoreact,inrelationtothis.Itwasprobablykindofmyownreaction,eventhoughyoushouldtakethingslike



racismreallyseriously,butIjustthinkthatit’sbecausepeoplehaveawrongwayofthinking,iftheythinkthatthatiswhatthecommercialisabout.”

• P3,ll.55:“SoIunderstandinsomeway,butIthinkitisaheatedreaction,becauseIthinkit’sold-fashionedtohavethiswayofthinking.”


• P5,ll.25:“Well,Iknowofthecase,butmyfirstthoughtwasthatiswasjusttwoboyswearinghoodies.Eh,Imustadmitthat.”

• P5,ll.93:“Because,themorewetalkaboutracism,themoreracistsitbecomes,orthemoreitgetstolive,insteadof…Wouldn’titalsoberacistsifhedidn’twearthathoodie,becauseheisblack?”

• P6,ll.66:“Idon’treallythink



thatyoucanputthesetwothingsupagainsteachother.Imean,‘alltheterriblethingshappeningintheworldrightnow’,Imean,ofcoursethereareterriblethingshappening,therealwayswillbe.Idon’tthinkthatiscomparable.Idon’tthinkthatyoucanputalltheterriblethingshappeningintheworldupagainstapictureofalittleboy.”

• P6,ll.80:“Ithinkit’soverblown.Ithinkitsetsoffwaytoomuch”



• P7,ll.33:“Yes.Well,its…Iseewhatthispersonmeans.Imean,therearesomanyother



thingsthatyoushoulddomoreabout,thanthisinquotationmarks,littlething.Youcanconsiderotherthinginstead,Ithink.”

• P7,ll.45:“Yes…it’saprettyextremestatement.Imean,Idon’t…,evenwhenIsawitthefirsttime,Ididn’teventhinkaboutit.”

PoliticalcorrectnessintheH&Mfirestorm–fromaDanishperspective-Howtheinterview-participantsdidnotfindanythingpoliticallyincorrectregardingtheH&Madvertisement,andhowtheyfindpoliticalcorrectnesstobeanobsessionandthenegativeexpressionstobeanoverreaction.

PoliticalCorrectness

-Whenaparticipantexpresseshisorheropinionaboutpoliticalcorrectness/orwhenaparticipantexpressessomethingrelatedtopoliticalcorrectness.Whenitisexpressedthattheuseofablackchildandthewordmonkeytogetheriseitherwrongorright

• P1,ll.84:“Well,Iwasjustabouttosaythat,youknow,it’smaybekindoflikehow,eh…Ifeelaboutit.Thateh,Imightthinkaswellthatitisaoverreactiontoallofthis..ButIalsothinkithassomethingtodowithwhereyoucomefrom,whatupbringingyouhavehad,andwhateh,yeawhatstoryyoubringtothetableandwhichcultureyoucomefrom.”

• P1,ll.198:“Well,youcan,accordingtothemselves,whenthey…iftheygooutanapologize



forsomething,thentheymusthaveactedpoliticalincorrectinsomeway,soyes.”

• P2,ll.18:“Well,nicesweaters,haha!Eh,yea,Idon’tknow.AllIseeistheclothes”

• P2,ll.141:“Well,it’sdifficult,becauseIthinkthatpoliticalincorrectnessisaquestionofsensitivity,andIactuallythinkthatitisaproblemthatwearesosensitiveaboutourpoliticaldebate,orcorrectness.Butyouwouldhavetosaythatwhenyoulookathetendenciesinthesociety,thenthisisprobablypoliticallyincorrect,ifyoulookatatendencyinthesociety.Inrelationtomypoliticalcorrectness,Idon’tthinkitisanissue,againbecauseIthinkitinsomewaycreatesadebate,etc.Butifyoulookatthe



tendencies,thenit’sprobablypoliticallyincorrect,butformepersonally,Idon’tthinkit’saproblemtodoit,becausepoliticalincorrectnessalsocancontributetobreakingsometaboosandmoveboundaries,whichinsomecases,areabitstupid,Ithink.”

• P3,ll.155:“Theyshouldprobablyhavehadmorepeopletolookthroughtheirmarketingmaterial,beforetheysentitout.Eh,butthenagain,it’sadiscussionaboutwhetheritispoliticallyincorrect,because…Idon’tseeanythingwrongaboutit,butsomepeopledo,soitisamatterofinterpretation.Sosomewouldsayyes,theyhave,andotherswouldsayno,theyhavenot.Ipersonallydon’tthinkit’spoliticallyincorrect,butI



understandwhysomepeoplemightmisinterpretthiscommercial,butagain,Ithinkit’sanold-fashionedwayofthinking.Notbecause,youshouldofcourseacknowledgethatracismishorribleandnotsupportitatall,butIdon’tthinkthatit’stheissuehere.“

• P5,ll.153:“(…)Idon’tthinkthatiswasH&M’sintension.Ithinktheywerecaughtinaworld,wherewetalkalotaboutracism,andwhereweareveryconsiderateabout.”

• P5,ll.174:“Ithinkit’saveryprettygreensweaterthattheyhaveputthissweetboyin,andeh,Ithinkitisreallysadthatweseeskincolorandnotjustasweetboy.That’stheworldIhopemyownsongrowsupin–thatyouarejustasweetboy,nomatterifyouhaveoneortwo



arm,ifyou’reblack,blueorwhite.”

• P6,ll.26:“CoolestMonkeyintheJungle,it’sablackboyinahoodie,andit’sawhiteboyinahoodie,eh.‘survivalexpert’.Eh,yeawhatdoIthink?Well,Iwouldn’tgetthatassociationmyself…or,yesIactuallythinkImight,ifIthinkit’sablackboy.IrememberwhenLineBaunDanielsenin“Go’aftenDanmark”said‘itthatamonkey’,andthenitwasablackguy.Soitsprobablyacommonassociation.”

• P6,ll.110:“Because,Ithinktheracism-cardisdrawnwaytoooften.Youcan’tdoanything,thenyou’restigmatizing,andthenyou’reracists,andthenyou´rebla,bla,bla,bla.Whynotjustbearoundeachother,andthensayweareallhumans.”

• P6,ll.167:



“Well,Ithinkthisracism-cardisbeingdrawnwaytoooften.Ithinkwehavegotafearofinvolvementof,withaDanishpointofview,ethnicalDanishpeople,like‘ohno,wedon’tdaretosaythat,butalso…yea,probablymostlyethnicalDanishpeople.Thatwehavebecomeafraidofexpressingourself,nottosaythatweshouldexpressourselfinaracistmanner,butthatwehavebecomesoafraidtoinvolve,andmanynewDanishpeoplealsodrawtheracism-cardandsay‘well,wecan’t,theyarejustracistallofthem’.”

• P6,ll.189:“Well,againIthinkitisalittletwo-parted,becauseifyoutakethisnaiveapproachtowardsit,whichIkindofthinkitis,andsaythatthey(H&M)



reallydidn’tthinkaboutit,andthatitwasamistake,andthat…Imean,ifit’slikethat,thenIthink,wellokay,it’sstupid,butit’samistake,ithappens,itshuman.Butifit’slike‘okay,listen,letsgostirthingsup,andgetournameallovertheworldpress’,whichImightbelieveisthecase,thenIthinkitispoliticallyincorrect,becausethenIthinkyouplayonsomethingthatisalreadyamajorissueinmanysocieties,namelyracism.AndthenIthinkit’swrong.Butitdependsontheapproach.”

• P7,ll.81:“Imean,tosay,whydopeoplethinklikethis.Itisaverydevelopedmindthatapersondonotthinkcolor,orhowdoIsayit.”

• P7,ll.170:“Idon’tthinkaboutthatatall!Ihaveseenit,thenIactuallyforgotaboutit,andshoppedat



Positive

-Whenpositiveexpressions/feelingsaremadetowardsH&Mandthecrisis

H&M.”• P7,ll.185:

“Politically,yes.Imean,ifyouhavetolookpolitical,lookatskincolor,orhowtosayit,thenitwasn’tasmartmove,andwhentheshirtsaysmonkey,Imean…theycouldhavetoldthemselvesthatitwasn’tsmarttoputablackboyinthesweaterwithmonkeyon.”

• APP.2,Twitter-

postno.2:“TheH&M***isjustirony.Ihighlydoubttheywerelike“let’sputthemonkeyhoodieonthen*****baby”likey’allmakingitseem”

• APP.4,Twitter-postno.4:“H&MisnotanAmericancompany.NonnativebrandsdonothavetobefamiliarwithUSAs(orothercountries)historicalconflicts.Noonehastodoabackgroundresearchforadvertisingasimplehoodie.”

• APP.5,Twitter-



Negative

-Whennegativeexpressions/feelingsaremadetowardsH&Mandthecrisis

postno.5:“Y’allcanfellhowy’allfellabouttheh&mhoodiesituation,Ithoughitwascute(emojie)sueme.”

• APP.8,Twitter-postno.1fortheinterviews:“@thismorning@hmThisseemslikesuchapettyissueconsideringalltheterriblethingshappeningintheworldrightnow.Getsomeperspective,people!#racism#ThisMorning”

• APP.11,Twitter-postno.4fortheinterviews:“Everyoneislosingtheirshitover@hmadvert.Whymakeeverythingoranythingracial?#MoveOn#CalmDown#TheCoolestMonkeyInTheJungle”

• APP.1,Twitter-

postno.1:“Marketingfail.H&Mputsablackchildinahoodiethatreads:“I’mthecoolestmonkeyinthejungle.”Andnowfolks



arepretendingliketheydon’tknowthatblackchildrenhavelongbeenraciallycharacterizedasmonkeys.”

• APP.3,Twitter-postno.3:“There´saWhiteSupremacistwhoworksforH&Mwhothoughitwasfunnytomakeablackboymodelahoodiethatsaid“CoolestMonkeyInTheJungle”.”

• APP.9,Twitter-postno.2fortheinterviews:“Fuckyou@hmI’mgladyourstoresareshutdowninSouthAfrica!Theydon’twantyouthere!Nexttimefuckingthinkbeforeyoudosomestupidshitlikethat!#FuckYou#HM#Racism#Africa.”

• APP.10,Twitter-postno.3fortheinterviews:“[email protected]’snotcoincident.Iknow#racismwhenIseeit.”



Uncomprehending

-Whenaparticipantisuncomprehendingtowardsastatement

• P1,ll.21:“Well,atfirstmythoughtisthatit’sjusttwokidswearingshirtsinacommercialtryingtosellsomeclothes.”

• P2,ll.18:“Well,prettysweaters,haha”.Eh,yeaIdon’tknow.Ijustseetheclothes”

• P3,ll.18:“Thatit’stwosweetchildreninsomenicesweatshirts”

• P2,ll.33:“Thateh,theperspectiveinrelationtowhatelseisgoingonintheworld,thenitseemslike…likesomekindofsoughtissueinmyeyesthateh.Youascribeitagreatertaboothanitactuallyshouldhave,becauseit’sacommercialforclothes,andofcourseIcanseethatitcanbean,eh,issue,butyea,Ithinkitistokindofliketakefocusawayfromproblemsthatmightbemorereal.”

• P2,ll.50:“Eh,wellagainIthinkit’skindofaeh,hyper-reaction.



Eh,Icanseethatonemaybe,coloredpeople,couldseabiggerproblem,becauseitfigurativelylookslike,youknow,itislikeputtingtwothingsupagainsteachother.ButIdon’tknow,Ijustthink,again,thatpeople’sreactionmakesitarace-issue,insteadofwhatitreallyis.Again,becauseitisacommercialwithtwochildrenwithclothes,Imean.”

• P3,ll.85:“Whydoesithavetobeaboutraceallthetime?Becauseablackboyisstandingthereinahoodiethatsays“CoolestMonkeyinTheJungle”…Iknowthat‘monkey’,aroundblackpeoplehavebeenareallyuglyinsultonce,butIjustthinkthatwehavedevelopedenoughandliveinamodernsocietythatitshouldnotbeaproblemanymoretothinkaboutwhatyoudressyourkids



in.Imean,itshouldfittoallkids,nomatteryourskincolor…”

• P5,ll.16:“AndthenIsawhowpeoplewenttotallycrazyaboutit,andthenitwasahugething,allofasudden.”

• P5,ll.25:“Well,Iknowofthecase,butmyfirstthoughtwasthatiswasjusttwoboyswearinghoodies.Eh,Imustadmitthat.”


• P7,ll.18:“Well,Ididn’tthinkthatmuchaboutit.Ididn’tthinkaboutitthefirsttimeeither,Ijustthoughtitwasaprettysweater.Ididn’tthinkaboutthatfactthatitwasablackchildthatwaswearingit,ifIcansayitlikethat?(…)Ididn’tthinkaboutthemeaningofitatall.”

• P7,ll.174:“Whereyou



Overreaction

-WhenaparticipantexpressesthatthereactionstotheH&Mcrisisareexaggerated

think,ImeanH&M,IhaveshoppedclothesatH&Mallthetime,andwhenthere’snothingwrongwiththequality,Imean.ThenIdon’tseeanyreasontonotshopthereanymore.”

• P7,ll.194:“Well,wearesoeducatedthatyouwouldthinkthatpeoplewouldhaveamoredevelopedthoughofmindthanwhathasturnedouttobethetruth.Tothink,thattheyprobablydidn’thavethispointofviewontheworldanymore.Buttherewillalwaysbepeoplethatdoes.”

• P1,ll.50:“Ialso

thinkit’s…it’sareallyheatedstatement.”

• P1,ll.85:“Eh,Imaybealsothinkthatit’sjust,wellithasbeenanoverreactiontoallofthis.”

• P1,ll.114:“Well,yea…Imaybethinkit’sanoverreactiontosaythatthe



entireH&M-concernisracists.”

• P2,ll.68:“Thecontroversyarisesonlybecauseofpeopleascribingit,Ithink.”

• P2,ll.89:“Iverymuchagreewiththose,whosaythatpeopleneedtorelax”

• P3,ll.30:“IthinkIagreealotinherwaytoreact,inrelationtothis.Itwasprobablykindofmyownreaction,eventhoughyoushouldtakethingslikeracismreallyseriously,butIjustthinkthatit’sbecausepeoplehaveawrongwayofthinking,iftheythinkthatthatiswhatthecommercialisabout.”

• P3,ll.55:“SoIunderstandinsomeway,butIthinkitisaheatedreaction,becauseIthinkit’sold-fashionedtohavethiswayofthinking.”

• P5,ll.25:“Well,Iknowofthecase,butmyfirst



thoughtwasthatitwasjusttwoboyswearinghoodies.Eh,Imustadmitthat.”

• P5,ll.93:“Because,themorewetalkaboutracism,themoreracistsitbecomes,orthemoreitgetstolive,insteadof…Wouldn’titalsoberacistsifhedidn’twearthathoodie,becauseheisblack?”


• P6,ll.66:“Idon’treallythinkthatyoucanputthesetwothingsupagainsteachother.Imean,‘alltheterriblethingshappeningintheworldrightnow’,Imean,ofcoursethereareterriblethingshappening,therealwayswillbe.Idon’tthinkthatit’scomparable.Idon’tthinkthatyoucanputalltheterriblethingshappeningintheworldupagainstapictureofalittleboy.”

• P6,ll.80:“Ithinkit’s



overblown.Ithinksetsoffwaytoomuch”


• P7,ll.33:“Yes.Well,its…Iseewhatthispersonmeans.Imean,therearesomanyotherthingsthatyoushoulddomoreabout,thanthisinquotationmarks,littlething.Youcanconsiderotherthinginstead,Ithink.”

• P7,ll.45:“Yes…it’saprettyextremestatement.Imean,Idon’t…,evenwhenIsawitthefirsttime,Ididn’teventhinkaboutit.”



10.20APPENDIX20–EXAMPLEOFCOLORCODESAPPLIEDONTRANCRIBEDINTERVIEW

TRANSCRIPTIONno.2–participantno.2

April17,2018–interviewconductedinperson

00.00,interviewer:Førstskaljegbareligehøredinalder?

00.03,participantno.2:Jeger28.

00.05,interviewer:OghvoroftekommerduiH&M?

00.08,participantno.2:En,togangeommånedenviljegskydepå.

00.12, interviewer: Ja. Og har du set H&M’s reklame med ”The Coolest Monkey in the

Jungle”?

00.16,participantno.2:Ja.

00.17,interviewer:Hvorhenne?

00.17,participantno.2:Øøøøh,jegtrorjegsådenførstegangpåFacebook,måske.

00.23,interviewer:Ja.Hardusetdenandresteder?

00.24, participant no. 2: Nej, altså så har jeg set den i forhold til debatterne osv. Men

Facebooksåjegdensompost.

00.33, interviewer:Nuviserjegdigligebilledetaft-shirten,ellerafhoodien,ogdenanden

hoodie,ogsåviljegbaregernehøredinumiddelbaretanke,nårduserbilledet.

00.44,participantno.2:Ashortpause,beforeheanswers…Jamen,pænetrøjer,haha!ØØh,ja,

detvedjegikke.Jegserbaretøjet.

00.58, interviewer:SåharligenogleTwitter-posts,somdufårlovtilatlæseenefteren.Og

såskaljegegentligbarehørehvaddutænker,nårduharlæstdem.Såvistarterbareligemed

denneher.

Pause,where the participant is reading a Twitter-post regarding ”The CoolestMonkey in the

Jungle”.

Twitter-post no. 1:@thismorning@hmThis seems like suchapetty issue consideringall the

terriblethingshappeningintheworldrightnow.Getsomeperspective,people!




01.16,interviewer:Ja.Hvadtænkerdu?

01.17, participant no. 2: Øøøh, jeg tænkerdet sådan ermeget reelt, i forhold til hvad jeg

tænker.Atøøøh,perspektivet i forhold tilhvadderellersskerrundtomkring,såvirkerdet

somat,altså…derersådanlidtetsøgtissue,iminoptik,atøøh,mantillæggerdetenstørre

tabu-værdienddetegentligbørhave,fordideterentøjreklame,ogjegkanselvfølgeliggodt

se,atderkanværeenøøh,et issue,men ja, jegsynesdeter reelt, atdeter sådanat fjerne

fokus fra nogle problemer der måske er mere reelle. Og hvis man virkelig vil se på det

racistiske,såskalerdernoknogleandretingiverden,endH&M,dergiverbørntøjpå,altså.

02.06,interviewer:Ja.Ogentil(Twitter-post).

Pause,wheretheparticipantisreadinganotherTwitter-postregarding”TheCoolestMonkeyin

theJungle”.

Twitter-postno.2:Fuckyou@hm@I’mgladyourstoresareshutdowninSouthAfrica!They

don’twantyouthere!Nexttimefuckingthinkbeforeyoudosomestupidshitlikethat!#FuckYou

#HM#Racism#Africa


02.16,interviewer:Hvadtænkerduher?

02.17, participant no. 2: Øøøøh, jamen igen så synes jeg det er sådan en øøøh, en hyper

reaktion.Øøøh,jegkangodtse,atmanmåske,farvedemennesker,såkanmanmåskegodtse

detsometstørreproblem,fordiatrentbilledeligt,såserdetjoogså,altså,deteratsætteto

tingopmodhinanden.Men,jegvedikke,jegsynesbareigen,atdeterfolksreaktion,dergør

dettiletrace-problem,fremforhvaddetmåskeegentligreelter.Igen,fordideterenreklame

medtobørn,derhartøjpå,altså.Ogligeidet,atdetogsåetbørn,såbørdermåskeogsåvære

lidt at det her uskyld, somnu engang gerne vil tillæggebørn. Så jeg synes det er enhyper

reaktion.

03.04,interviewer:Ja.Ogenmere(Twitter-post).

Pause,wheretheparticipantreadsyetanotherTwitter-postsregardig”TheCoolestMonkey in

theJungle”



Twitter-postno.3:[email protected]’snotcoincident.Iknow#racismwhenIseeit

03.12, participant no. 2: Jamen, igen synes jeg måske racisme aspektet kan man godt

tillægge det her. Men jeg synes det er noget man gør som, som consumer af det her ad-

produkt.Deternogetmanselvtillæggerdet,såhvisdumåskeselversådanneutral,iforhold

tilracen,såsynesjegikke,detburdeværeetproblem,øh.Kontroversenopstårkunpågrund

afdefolkdertillæggerdet,synesjeg.

03.48,interviewer:Ogdensidste(Twitter-posts).

Pause,wheretheparticipantreadsthelastTwitter-postregarding”TheCoolestMonkeyinthe

Jungle”

Twitter-post no. 4:Everyone is losing their shit [email protected] everything or

anythingracial?#MoveOn”CalmDown”TheCoolestMonkeyInTheJungle

03.55,participantno.2:Ja,ligepræcis!Øøøh..

03.58,interviewer:Dererduenigellerhvad?

03.59, participant no. 2: Ja, igen som jeg siger, at det er, det racistiske i det, er at folk

tillæggerdetselv.Deterikkenødvendigvis,atH&Mhargivetenmørkdrengentrøjepå,hvor

derstår”TheCoolestMonekyintheJungle”,altså,deterjoikkefordidekalderhamenabe.

(SOCIAL BACKGROUND) Jeg kan godt se, atman kan tillægge det,men igen, så er det den

subjektiveholdning,fremforenobjektivholdning,synesjeg.Jegkunneforstå,hvismanhavde

givet ham abe-ører på, eller et eller andet, og givet ham en hale også, så kan jeg se det.

(UNCOMPREHENSING)Men,hvadheddetdetøøh, i forhold tildether,dersynes jegdeter,

determeresøgttilgang,atdetskalværeracistisk.

04.1,interviewer:Såderernogleafudmeldingerneduerenigi,ognogledueruenigi?

04.45,participantno.2:Ja.Jegermegetenigidemdersiger,atfolkskalslappelidtaf.Øøøh,

ogdemdertillæggerH&Msomracister,dersynesjegegentligbare,atdererlidtsøgt.Forpå

etellerandetpunktmåmanjoogsåsige,atfolkerjoklogeindenforadvertisement,sådeved

jo godt, at det kan have været kontroversielt, så egentlig synes jeg også det er enmåde at

brydemeddenhertilgangogfolksopfattelse.Såetellerandetstederdetjomodigtnok,det

gavbarebagslag,ikke.



05.19, interviewer: Ja. Ville du kunne finde på at dele sådan nogle posts på de sociale

medier?

05.23,participantno.2:Ashortpause,beforeheanswers…Øøøh,jegdelerikkerigtigposts.

Jegermeget inaktivpådesocialemedier.Menskulle jegdelenoget,såville jegmåskedele

nogleafdem,dersåpådenharbekymringomkring,atviskalgåopi,hvordandethereret

problem,nårderegentlig…Jegvedgodt,atmanikkekanbekæmpealleproblemeriverden,

men jegsynesmåske ikke,deter…detherdetersådanet internet-krigersyndrom,athver

gangderskeretellerandetvikandeleogvikanblivesureover,såerdetdermangårind,så

jegvillenokmereforsvare,hvis jegdeltenoget,såville jegtagenogleafdesådanlidtmere

defensivepostsogdele,ogsåprøve,atfådetaspektfrem.

06.08, interviewer:Villedusåselvkunnefindepåatforsvareetbrandellerenvirksomhed

pådesocialemedier?

06.13,participantno.2: Igen, jeggørdet ikkesåmeget,menøøh…fordi jegved,atdeter

sjældentmanfårenrigtigsagligdebat,hvismanbegyndernogetsådanetsted,ogdeterdet

jeg synes der er problemet, det er at de har shitstorms, der er ikke saglighed

(COMMUNICATION)Altså,duserikkepåhvaddeterderegentligerproblemet,osv.,deter,at

duegentliggår indmeddinheltegensubjektiveholdning,ogsvinernogletil,eller..ogdem

dersåogsåstøtterdet, formangegangesvinesallemuligeandretil, såjegvilsige, jegville

nokikkegøredet,menjegvilleheltklarttagetetmeredefensivtendoffensivtstandspåden

her.

06.57, interviewer: H&M har været ude at undskyldemange gange for den her situation,

ellerhvadmanskal,ogdeharfaktiskogsåfjernetreklamenfranettetogdeterhellerikkealle

stederdukankøbehoodienmere.Hvadtænkerduomdenhandling?

07.10,participantno.2:Jegsynesdeterfintnok,atmanligesomundskylderfordenmåde

folkharkunneopfattedetpå,fordidetharjoselvfølgeligikkeværetdereshensigt,kunnejeg

forstillemig.At trækkeden tilbage, synes jegmaske er, øøh, jamendet er lidt igendether

consumer-societyvileveri,dersynesjegderersådanetlidtoverdrevenreaktion,mendeter

igendeherfolk,somersåpræcerendepådet,sådetsynesjegnoglegangedeterlidtatpresse

envirksomhedudinogetåndssvagt.Menjegsynesundskyldningendenerfin,fordidetgodt

kanbliveopfattetanderledes.

Alittleinterruptionfromafriendoftheparticipant.



07.57,interviewer:Harkrisen,ellerdenhersituationændretditsynpåH&M?

08.03,participantno.2:Øøøh,nej,ikkenødvendigvis.Egentlig,såsynesjegligedadenkom

frem,synesjegdetvarmegetfedt,fordijegsynesdetligger,etellerandetstedliggerdetjoop

til debat, altså den bryder lidt sådan tabu, og jeg synes faktisk det var modigt, taget i

betragtningafhvaddenkunneskabeafdebat,hvilketdensåogsåhar.Så jegsyneseteller

andetsted,atdeteretboltstatement,ogdet...jegsynesat,altsånuerdetsværtidenneher

tid,menjegsynesdetersådannoget,derliggeroptildebat,ogdetsynesjegegentligermeget

spændende,atenvirksomhedtørgøredet.

08.42,interviewer:SåduvilfortsathandleiH&M?

08.44,participantno.2:Ja,forpokker,derestøjerbilligt,haha!

08.47,interviewer:Detsidstespørgsmål:Synesdu,atH&Mharhandletpolitiskukorrekt?

08.50,participantno.2:Øøh..ashortpausebeforeheanswers..Ja,detmåmanjonoksige.

09.00,interviewer:Hvorfor?

09.01,participantno.2:Jamen,deterjosvært,fordiatjegsynes,atpolitiskukorrektheder

en, er et sensitivitets-spørgsmål, og jeg synes egentlig, at det er et problem, at vi er så

sensitiveomkringvorespolitiskedebat,ellerkorrekthed.Menmanmåjosånoksige,atnår

manserpåtendenserneisamfundet,såerdetherjonokpolitiskukorrekt,hvismanskalse

på samfundstendens. I forhold til min politiske korrekthed, så synes jeg ikke, at det er et

problem, igen fordi jeg synes det er sådan lidt debat skabende, osv.,men hvisman ser på

tendenserne,såerdetnokpolitiskukorrekt,menformigpersonligt,synesjegikkedeteret

problemat gøredet, fordipolitiskukorrekthedogsåkanværemed til at, altsåbrydenogle

tabuerogrykkenoglegrænser,sominogletilfælde,måskeerlidtåndssvage,synesjeg.Såja,

dethardenok,menformigerdetfintnokatlegemedpolitiskukorrekthed,fordetåbnerfor

noglenyeopfattelserafting.



10.21APPENDIX21–PARTICIPANTNO.1Appendixcanbefoundinaseparatedocument,asitcontainslinenumbers.







political corretness in crisis communication on social media › projekter › files › 281659051...

Documents