Spanish fashion retailer Zara has finally apologized in the face of a global boycott. Accusations of mocking the victims of Israeli carnage in Gaza are a 'misunderstanding', they claim.
Kristen McMenamy recently modeled in an ad called 'The Jacket' as part of Zara's Atelier series. In the ad, McMenamy is seen wearing a white polythene-wrapped mannequin on his shoulders, which looks like a corpse wrapped in a shroud. The other mannequins around him are missing limbs. And rubble all around. Social media users have complained that the ad's background is a replica of the destruction in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. One critic even claimed that the plaster board behind the ad looked like a map of Palestine. As the ad images spread, Palestinians called for a boycott of the Zara brand. After this, the company removed all the images of the controversial advertisement from the social media. But the criticism did not stop. The intention of the ad was not that at all. Finally, a statement was issued by Zara apologizing for the incident. They said the ad wasn't what some consumers thought it was.
Zara claims that the content of the ad was conceived last July and photographed last September. That is, the Spanish company claims that the content of the ad was decided before the recent Israel-Hamas war.
The Palestinian independence group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7. About 1,200 people were killed. Israel continues to attack Gaza brutally to take revenge. At least 18,412 Palestinians lost their lives, the majority of whom were women and children. In a statement, Zara said, "We regret the 'misunderstanding'. Rest assured, we have deep respect for everyone.
Source: BBC, Times of India
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