Zara ‘regrets misunderstanding’ over ad campaign after boycott calls

Images, which featured statues wrapped in white and triggered calls for a boycott by some pro-Palestinian activists, have been removed

Zara removed the campaign after people left tens of thousands of complaints on its Instagram account saying the ad images resembled photos of corpses in white shrouds in Gaza. Picture: Zara

Fashion retailer Zara said it regretted the “misunderstanding” over an ad campaign featuring statues wrapped in white that triggered calls for a boycott by some pro-Palestinian activists, and it had removed the images.

People left tens of thousands of complaints about the campaign on Zara’s Instagram account, saying the images resembled photos of corpses in white shrouds in Gaza. #BoycottZara trended on messaging platform X.

Zara’s announcement illustrates the challenge for global brands around the Gaza war. Zara is the first major Western brand to take such a step after criticism for what some saw as insensitive advertising.

Zara said the campaign, which also featured mannequins with missing limbs, had been conceived in July and photographed in September, before the conflict erupted in October, and was meant to show unfinished sculptures in a sculptor’s studio.

“Unfortunately, some customers felt offended by these images, which have now been removed, and saw in them something far from what was intended when they were created,” said Zara in an Instagram post.

The images were used “with the sole purpose of showcasing craft-made garments in an artistic context”, it added.

Zara regrets that misunderstanding and we reaffirm our deep respect towards everyone.”

It said some customers felt offended by the images and they had been removed.

Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority said it received 110 complaints about the Zara campaign saying the imagery referenced the war in Gaza and was offensive.

“As Zara have now removed the ad, we won’t be taking any further action,” said the authority in a statement.

Six posts showcasing the Atelier campaign were scrubbed from Zara’s Instagram page, and parent company Inditex said the photos had been pulled from all platforms.

Zara had already pulled the photoshoot from its website and app home pages.

Inditex is due to report results for the first nine months of its financial year on Wednesday, with analysts expecting sales growth to slow slightly in the third quarter due to an unusually warm October in Europe.

• Reuters