– Zaina Aman
Spanish apparel brand ZARA trends online for latest ads. The brand triggered a boycott for the controversial ‘Gaza-War inspired’ collection. Palestine supporters were dumbfounded by the campaign’s similarity to the genocide that has unfolded in Gaza. The brand’s latest ad campaign titled ‘the jacket’, in which model Kristen McMenamy is seen posing with a mannequin wrapped in a white blanket which was a part of Zara’s Atelier series, was sickening and insensitive for Pro-Palestinians as it depicted the shrouded bodies of victims of Israel’s indiscriminate war on Gaza.
Social Media users on application ‘X’, formerly known as Twitter, and on other social media platforms opposed the campaign by expressing anger and disgust, and vowing to boycott the brand.
“Don’t tell me it’s a coincidence @ZARA,” one of the ‘X’ users wrote.
Another user wrote, “how disgusting the world we live in, how disgusting humans are, when there is no humanity. #BoycottZARA”
Pro-Palestinian activists in Montreal even sprayed ZARA doors with pro-Palestinian slogans after it glorified the murder of Palestinians. This is not the first time that ZARA faced condemnation related to Palestine. In October 2022, Palestinians launched a boycott against the brand after its Israeli franchise holder supported the extremist Jewish Forces Party. Also, in 2021, Zara’s head designer, Vanessa Perilman said, “Maybe if your people were educated then, they wouldn’t blow up the hospitals and schools that Israel helped to pay for in Gaza.”
Following the backlash, ZARA deleted some of the images from official social media handles but it remained on its official website till yesterday. But today, ZARA pulled controversial ads from the website. With this, some also pointed out that deleting the posts by the brand only adds salt to injury.
