Man Responsible For Awful Madeleine McCann H&M Photo Responds

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Man Responsible For Awful Madeleine McCann H&M Photo Responds

Swedish fashion chain H&M has recently come under fire for using a black child model to sell a hoodie inscribed with the phrase "Coolest Monkey In The Jungle."

Houston Chronicles

Following the release of the image, many people took to social media to express how they feel about the situation and take matters into their own hands with a little help from Photoshop.

While some users redesigned their own versions of the hoodie with positive messages, like "Black is Beautiful," the trolls also jumped on the bandwagon with some tasteless edits.

One person went as far as using a photo of Madeleine McCann. The Twitter user shared the Photoshopped image of the three-year-old, who went missing over ten years ago while vacationing with her parents in Portugal. The meme shows Madeleine's head edited onto an H&M shirt with the slogan "Hide & Seek Champion" written on it.

The post has since received over 24,000 retweets and 68,000 likes. While some people praised the picture and dubbed it funny, many found it to be to awful and distasteful.

Kieron Marsh

The missing girl's parents, Kate and Gerry, did not make any direct comments to the media about the photo, but a source close to the family told The Sun that the McCann's "can't believe all this tasteless rubbish is resurfacing again," adding, "It's so offensive and so unnecessary."

"We've had this this sort of stuff before and now it's back up there again," the source continued. "It causes more hurt to a family still suffering but they do their best to ignore negativity and spiteful postings."

Just a couple days since the photo went viral, the man behind it, Kieron March, has reemerged with a message for Madeleine's parents.

Despite the fact that a few people have condemned Marsh for his "sick" joke, it didn't stop him from making the situation worse.

Marsh edited more photos of the McCanns, this time he went after Gerry and Kate. He edited their faces onto hoodies which read "Mum of the year" and "Dad of the year."

The Sun

Marsh then responded to The Sun article about Kate and Gerry's feeling towards the meme, but he did not bother to apologize for what he did.

"As if I've rattled the McCanns," tweeted Marsh. "F**k the sun newspaper[SIC]"

This isn't the first time that the McCanns have had to deal with online abuse. Since Madeleine disappeared, they've been the target of harsh criticism and bullying from people who believe they know more than they've let on.

The Sun

This latest photo is just among hundreds of other offensive and abusive messages the McCann's have been subjected to. In 2017, a study found that the McCann's receive over 150 abusive messages from social media users every day despite the fact that they've repeatedly denied their involvement in their daughter's disappearance.

Marsh doesn't seem like he will be apologizing anytime soon, so it looks like Kate and Gerry will just have to look the other way until this Twitter user's 15 minutes of fame comes to an end.

Blair isn't a bestselling author, but she has a knack for beautiful prose. When she isn't writing for Shared, she enjoys listening to podcasts.