Zara, the fast fashion retailer, said on Tuesday it had removed an advertising campaign after critics said the images were reminiscent of scenes from the Israel-Hamas war and called them insensitive.
The campaign, titled “The Jacket,” featured model Kristen McMenamy and was photographed by Tim Walker. In one of the images, Ms. McMenamy is holding what appears to be a mannequin wrapped in white fabric. In another picture, what looks like white powder is sprinkled on the ground.
“Unfortunately, some customers felt insulted by these images,” the fast fashion brand said in a company statement posted to Instagram on Tuesday, adding that people “saw in them something that was far from that “which was intended when they were created.” The company said it “regrets this misunderstanding.”
The company also noted in the statement that the campaign was conceived in July and photographed in September, before Hamas's Oct. 7 attack on Israel. The campaign, which featured images of unfinished sculptures in an art studio, was “designed solely for the purpose of showcasing handmade garments in an artistic context,” the company said.
The photos posted to the company's Instagram page have since been deleted, but the batch was still visible on The Cut and Design Scene's website.
Some customers called for a boycott of the brand because of the images. Users compared the campaign's photos to recent images from war photographers showing Palestinians carrying their dead relatives in white body bags, sometimes stained red with blood.
Inas Abu Maamar, 36, hugs the body of her five-year-old niece Saly, who was killed in an Israeli attack in October, at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. Credit…Mohammed Salem/Portal
In a particularly poignant photo taken by Mohammed Salem for Portal, a Palestinian woman named Inas Abu Maamar, 36, holds the body of her five-year-old niece Saly, who was killed in an Israeli attack.
Critics of the campaign felt that the decision to release it in December, despite being developed before the Israel-Hamas war began, was insensitive to the conflict.
“To work in marketing, you don’t have enough knowledge of current events,” one critic posted on social media. “They approved it out of ignorance.”
According to Portal, protesters gathered outside a Zara store in Tunisia on Monday, chanting while waving the Palestinian flag. One of the store's windows had red paint splattered on it.
In another video, a small group of protesters with tape over their mouths entered what appeared to be a Zara store in Germany, waving images from the war and carrying props that appeared to simulate dead children in white body bags.
Some Instagram users added pro-Palestinian messages as comments on Zara's Instagram statement and other recent posts.