LONDON (Reuters) – The Zara brand, owned by Spanish ready-to-wear giant Inditex, said on Tuesday it regretted the “misunderstanding” caused by its advertising campaign featuring models with missing limbs and statues wrapped in white, which sparked calls for a boycott from some pro-Palestinian activists.
“Unfortunately, some customers felt offended by these images, which have now been removed, and saw them as something far from what was intended when they were created,” Zara said in a message on the social network Instagram .
Over the past few days, tens of thousands of comments have been posted on Zara’s Instagram account, many with Palestinian flags, while a hashtag “#BoycottZara” has been picked up on social network from the advertising campaign, these images are reminiscent of photos of the corpses of Palestinian civilians draped in white shrouds.
The brand said the images depict unfinished sculptures in a workshop, “with the sole aim of showcasing artisan-made clothing in an artistic context”, adding that the campaign, launched on December 7, was conceived in July and photographed in September.
“Zara regrets this misunderstanding and we reaffirm our deep respect for everyone,” Zara said. Six posts relating to the campaign have been removed from Zara’s Instagram page.
(Report by Helen Reid, by Augustin Turpin, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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