(Madrid) Faced with calls for a boycott, the Spanish brand Zara withdrew an advertising campaign, accused on social networks of resembling images of victims in the Gaza Strip, which it defended.
“Some customers felt offended by these images, now deleted, and saw something very far from what was intended when they were created,” Zara, the flagship brand of the world number one ready-to-wear retailer, said on Tuesday. wear Inditex, in a press release published on social networks.
This advertising campaign notably showed a model, standing, carrying on her shoulder a statue the size of an adult wrapped in a white sheet, and posing in front of a moving crate of works of art, in the middle of a room where you can see pieces of plaster or sections of destroyed walls.
On social media, this campaign was accused by some of resembling images from Gaza.
A message published on ruins and shrouds as decoration.”
Numerous calls to boycott the brand appeared on social networks under the hashtag #BoycottZara.
In its press release, Zara explains that its advertising campaign was “designed in July and photographed in September”, i.e. before the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, triggered by a bloody and unprecedented attack perpetrated by the Palestinian Islamist movement. on October 7 on Israeli soil from the Gaza Strip.
Still according to the Spanish brand, this campaign “presents a series of images of unfinished sculptures in a sculptor’s workshop” and “was created with the sole aim of presenting artisanal clothing in an artistic context”.
“Zara regrets this misunderstanding and we reaffirm our deep respect for everyone,” the brand concluded in its press release.
At the start of the war, Inditex announced that it would “temporarily” close the 84 stores of its brands in Israel until further notice.
According to Israel, 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed during the October 7 attack.
In retaliation, Israel has vowed to “annihilate” Hamas and is carrying out devastating bombings on Gaza. The Hamas Ministry of Health reported Monday that 18,205 people died in these bombings, mostly women and young people under 18 years old.