Fashion brand Zara pulls down controversial ad, issues a statement after social media flak

Fast fashion giant Zara has issued a statement and taken down its controversial ad campaign called “The Jacket” after backlash from every corner of the internet. The campaign, which was criticised for its striking resemblance to the pictures coming from Gaza during the Israel-Palestine conflict, has now been pulled from Zara’s website as well as their social media accounts.

The fashion brand clarified that the ad campaign had been in the works for months, with the first idea being developed in July, before the conflict in Gaza began. The photo shoot was completed in September and Zara claims that the entire idea of the ad was to show unfinished sculptures in a studio. The entire campaign, which was to promote their new Atelier collection for the winter, has now been scrapped after calls to “boycott Zara” by netizens.

The statement issued by Zara reads, “After listening to comments regarding the latest Zara atelier campaign ‘The jacket’, we would like to share the following with our customers: The campaign, which 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 craft made garments in an artistic context. 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 regrets that misunderstanding and we reaffirm our deep respect towards everyone.”

The company has steered clear of saying anything directly on the accusations of the campaign resembling corpses in Gaza in the aftermath of bombings, and the social media reaction to the new post has people calling Zara out for insensitivity and ignorance. An Instagram user commented, “Don’t blame us!!! If you know, this is a disaster. If you do not know, the disaster is greater.”, while another user posted, “Absolutely pathetic excuse! Even if it was pre-recorded before the war - surely you would realise how absolutely insensitive and vile it would be to post such images given the current situation and how easily it would be perceived as a mockery. Lost a customer.”