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
Future of Marketing Briefing: The case for and against the death of the big brand ad
Marketing has a new favorite argument: is it still smarter to talk to a million people at once, or to find the thousand people they already trust?
Lifestyle brand Stanley 1913 uses AI behind the scenes — but execs claim it won’t touch ad creative
Not every brand is racing to let AI anywhere near its ads. Stanley draws the line there on purpose.
TikTok’s Kat Marquez unpacks NBA and WNBA creator deal
TikTok’s latest move to secure its share of the leagues’ growing audiences sees it play gatekeeper between creators and rights holders.