'Encouraging casual racism': Amazon forced to remove costume ad after public outcry

Amazon has been forced to remove two Chinese-themed costumes from their website after they were advertised with photos deemed to be racist.

The online retail giant pulled the outfits named "Chinese boy fancy dress costume" after they were modelled by two white children making "slant-eye" gestures.

The costumes, sold by third-party sellers for between £21.86 and £22.02, sparked outrage on social media after the listings were circulated online.

Dozens of comments suggested that the pictures were blatantly racist towards Chinese people.

“I feel Amazon are sending a message publicly that it is acceptable to be casually racist to Chinese people," one Facebook user wrote on Amazon's page.

"Seriously Amazon, I'm so shocked! How can you support such racism!!! Unacceptable and offensive especially to the Chinese," another said.

"A Caucasian boy to represent Asian wear? Doing the slant eye?" one user questioned in disbelief.

In a brief response, Amazon confirmed the items had been removed but failed to apologise for the offensive images from the third-party retailers.

"The products in question have been removed," the company told The Mirror.

The furore comes just a few weeks after H&M were slammed for advertising a children's hooded jumper using a black child. The item of clothing read: "Coolest monkey in the jungle".

The European clothing brand has since apologised for their misjudgment.