Zara Pulls Ad Campaign Amid Backlash Over Gaza Imagery

Fashion retailer faces criticism for campaign images resembling war scenes, leading to social media boycott calls and official complaints

Zara has pulled an ad campaign after it was criticised for resembling images from the Israel-Gaza war. The campaign, advertising its Atelier line, featured images of mannequins with missing limbs and statues wrapped in white, which some critics said resembled photos of corpses in Gaza.
The campaign was conceived in July and photographed in September, before the conflict erupted in October. Zara said the campaign was intended to present 'a series of images of unfinished sculptures in a sculptor’s studio and was created with the sole purpose of showcasing craftmade garments in an artistic context'.
However, the images sparked a backlash on social media, with the hashtag #BoycottZara trending on X, formerly known as Twitter. The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority said it had received 110 complaints alleging that the advert’s imagery referenced the Israel-Hamas conflict and was offensive.
Zara has since removed the images from all its platforms and issued a statement saying it regretted the misunderstanding and reaffirmed its deep respect towards everyone.
This is not the first time Zara has faced controversy related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In 2021, Zara's head women's designer was criticised for sending anti-Palestinian messages to a model on Instagram.