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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
navigating the sensitivities around the Gaza war. Zara is the
first major Western brand to take such a drastic 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," Zara said in an
Instagram post.
The images were used "with the sole purpose of showcasing
craftmade garments in an artistic context", it added.
"Zara regrets that misunderstanding and we reaffirm our deep
respect towards everyone," Zara said.
Six posts showcasing the 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
"Atelier" photoshoot from its website and app home pages on
Monday.
The "Atelier" collection, of six jackets, is one of Zara's most
expensive, priced from $229 for a grey wool blazer with chunky
knit sleeves, to $799 for a studded leather jacket. The jackets
were still for sale on Zara sites.
Inditex is due to report results for the first nine months of
its fiscal year on Wednesday, with analysts expecting sales
growth to slow slightly in the third quarter due to an unusually
warm October in Europe.
(Reporting by Helen Reid in London and Corina Pons in Madrid;
Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Andrew Heavens)
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