beauty

This controversial Zara ad is infuriating women everywhere.

A recent Zara advertisement has garnered significant attention online, for its somewhat confusing ‘body positive’ message.

The campaign features two particularly thin women wearing jeans, with the words ‘love your curves’ plastered beside them. The image is viscerally bizarre, given that neither of the models have ‘curves’ in the way we’ve come to understand them. With their narrow hips, tiny waists and thin legs, marketing the jeans to people with curves seems… odd.

While the posters have appeared in Zara stores since early February, they only attracted attention on social media once an Irish radio personality tweeted her disdain for them.

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“You have got to be sh*tting me, Zara,” she wrote, alongside an image of the advertisement.

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In a follow up tweet, she pointed out that she wasn’t criticising the models, but rather was calling out a) the irony of having two incredibly thin women promoting the idea of ‘loving your curves,’ and b) the fact that the women both look photoshopped.

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Others were quick to share their thoughts on the campaign, with one woman tweeting, “Is Zara having a laugh? What curves do these girls have? My wrist is literally fatter than their thighs?,” while another said, “How the hell do Zara get away with this marketing imagery?”

So far, the ads have been spotted in Ireland, England and Spain, and for many people, such images have huge implications.

On social media, mothers commented that these types of ideas contribute to their daughter’s body dissatisfaction and self-esteem, and expressed their concern over such a warped representation of what ‘curves’ really are.

Of course, there were also those who simply approached the issue with humour, encouraging people to celebrate the curves on a pair of chopsticks.

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Others still felt that the ad wasn’t problematic, and was actually trying to be inclusive of less-curvy women.

Mamamia reached out to Zara, however the company did not immediately respond to our request for comment.

How do you feel about the ad? Is it bizarre or entirely appropriate?