International fashion brand ZARA has apologized and withdrawn its latest advertising campaign featuring models with missing limbs and white-wrapped statues, following intensive boycott campaigns around the world that believed the advertisement was distastefully mocking the victims of Gaza.
ZARA in the crosshairs of public outrage
In one of the campaign images, a model appears carrying another model wrapped in white. In another photo, a bust stands lying on the ground, while a third shows a mannequin without arms.
Critics of the campaign said that it resembles pictures of people killed in the ongoing Gaza war.
Inditex, the company that owns the ZARA brand, said that the change came a regular procedures for updating content. Instead, its latest campaign sparked anger on social media with tens of thousands of angry comments, many of which carried Palestinian flags.
The “#BoycottZara” or “Boycott ZARA” hashtag trended on the “X” platform (formerly Twitter), as many activists around the world organized peaceful protests in front of and inside ZARA-brand stores.
An official apology
ZARA published an apology statement on its Instagram account, saying: “Unfortunately, some customers felt offended by these images, which now have been removed, and saw in them something far from what was intended when they were created.”
“ZARA regrets this misunderstanding and we reaffirm our deep respect towards everyone.”
The brand clarified during the launch of the collection on December 7 that it was inspired by men’s tailoring from past centuries.
It did not comment on the calls for a boycott, but said that the “Atelier” collection was designed in July and the photos were taken in September, that is, before the start of the Israeli aggression on Gaza in October.
One commenter wrote: “It does not matter when it was photographed, it takes one person to know that it does not need to be published at the present time.”
