Zara pulls ‘gluten free’ graphic shirt amid outrage it trivializes disease
Zara is discovering that gluten-free community isn’t full of laughs.
The fashion brand has pulled a T-shirt from shelves that read “Are you gluten free?,” a misfired joke intended to mock the diet fad. Yet, some people felt the shirt was offensive because cutting out the ingredient is a life-saving necessity for those with celiac disease.
The shirt sparked an outrage online, prompting a Change.org petition that collected 53,000 signatures.
“The message of this shirt trivializes an important health problem,” it says, asking Zara to not only stop selling the shirt, but to apologize and commit to “not trivializing” the disease.
To Zara’s credit, it listened.
“We sincerely regret that this case can be interpreted as a trivialization of coeliac problem completely opposite intention of Inditex,” its parent company said in a statement, adding that it has pulled the shirt from stores.
It’s the latest t-shirt faux pas that’s struck a fast fashion chain. Last week, Forever 21 apologized for selling a shirt that made light of rape.
More in Marketing
New partnerships, marketing fuel BNPL’s holiday surge
This holiday season, more brands deployed BNPL services with different payment options beyond the more familiar “pay-in-four” structure.
Pitch deck: How Amazon is recasting Twitch as a core part of its CTV pitch
Amazon is positioning Twitch as a defining asset in its CTV ambitions.
Netflix transforms former mall department stores into experiential venues
The location in Dallas opens this week, and one at the King of Prussia mall near Philadelphia opened last month.