Zara pulls advert from website front page after Gaza boycott calls
Zara removed an advertising campaign from its website and app, featuring mannequins with missing limbs and statues wrapped in white, following calls for a boycott by pro-Palestine activists. Inditex, Zara's parent company, stated that the removal was part of routine content refreshing and did not address the boycott calls directly. The controversial "Atelier" collection, launched on Dec. 7, faced criticism on Zara's Instagram account, with the hashtag #BoycottZara trending. The images, resembling scenes in Gaza, led to heightened sensitivity amid the Israeli aggression on Gaza.
- World
- Agencies and A News
- Published Date: 08:01 | 11 December 2023
- Modified Date: 08:01 | 11 December 2023
Zara pulled an advertising campaign featuring mannequins with missing limbs and statues wrapped in white from the front page of its website and app on Monday after it prompted calls by some pro-Palestine activists for a boycott of the fashion retailer.
Inditex, which owns Zara, said the change was part of its normal procedure of refreshing content. It did not comment on the boycott calls, but said the "Atelier" collection was conceived in July and the photos were taken in September. The war between Israel and Hamas began after Oct. 7
Zara's Instagram account saw tens of thousands of comments posted about the photos, many with Palestinian flags, while "#BoycottZara" was trending on messaging platform X.
In one of the photos a model is pictured carrying a mannequin wrapped in white, in another a bust lies on the floor and another features a mannequin with no arms. Critics said they resembled photos of corpses in white shrouds in Gaza.
Zara said at the launch of the collection on Dec. 7 that it was inspired by men's tailoring from past centuries. The photos appear to show an artist studio with ladders, packing materials, wooden crates and cranes, and assistants wearing overalls.
The reaction highlights heightened sensitivity international brands are navigating as fighting across The Israeli airstrikes on intensifies and calls for company boycotts rise.
The photos, which featured on Zara's online store home page on Monday morning, were no longer visible on the website or on its app by 1230 GMT.
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