GLOBAL FASHION BRAND Zara has apologised and pulled its atelier ad campaign for their “The Jacket” product after it faced criticism from pro-Palestinian activists, urging to boycott the brand.
The Jacket ad campaign displayed its black leather jacket with a backdrop of mannequins who had limbs missing and were covered in white sheets and bubble wrap.
Covering mannequins or body lookalikes in white sheets has been a frequent form of demonstration by pro-Palestinian activists in recent months to protest the bombardment of Gaza by Israeli Forces.
Activists rallied online to boycott the fashion brand and denounced the ad campaign, which they claimed had similarities to the real images emerging from inside the Gaza Strip.
Today, Zara pulled the campaign and posted an apology to their social media pages.
In the statement, the company said it had listened to customers and decided to pull the campaign over their concerns.
“The campaign, that was conceived in July and photographed in September, presents a series of images of unfinished sculptures in a sculptor’s studio and was created with the sole purpose of showcasing craftmade garments in an artistic context,” it said.
As per the claims made by the company, the campaign was organised and put together before Hamas attacked Israeli villages on 7 October, killing over 1,200 people who were mostly civilian, which sparked the latest shelling and bombardment of the Gaza Strip, where Hamas control.
“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,” the company continued.
“Zara regrets that misunderstanding and we reaffirm our deep respect towards everyone,” it added.
Stock prices of the Spanish firm and owner of the Zara brand Inditex have been largely unaffected as a result of the campaign being pulled and the apology being issued at the time of publicaiton.
A Zara store in Canada overnight had been vandalised with graffiti reading ‘Free Gaza’ on the storefront window, where a similar display to the campaign had been set up.
The hashtag #BoycottZara had also been trending on X, formerly Twitter, for some time.
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