Zara, in the spotlight after the reinforcement of surveillance for extreme thinness in the United Kingdom. The flagship chain of the Inditex group has removed two images of models on its website after receiving a complaint from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the independent self-regulatory body for advertising in the UK. The agency’s formal complaint is in addition to the other two it has already filed this year for similar reasons with Marks & Spencer and Next.
The ASA refers to two photographs, out of a total of four images analyzed, dated May this year, which it believes depict the two models looking extremely thin.
The agency has appealed to the need for Inditex to comply with the code of the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP), the body responsible for drafting and updating the UK Advertising Code, which specifies that communications must be carried out “with a sense of responsibility towards consumers and society”.
Zara, Marks&Spencer and Next have received a complaint from the ASA this year
According to the complainant both photographs depicted the models as unhealthily thin, making the ads irresponsible and in breach of the CAP code. The other two images, despite depicting the same models, have not received a formal complaint.
Following the ASA’s announcement, the Spanish group has assured the entity that it has removed the images from its website. “They assure that none of the images have been modified, beyond minor retouching of light and color,“ explains the ASA. Inditex has also defended that all its models have a medical certificate that guarantees their health, both physical and mental.
“We are committed to showing responsible content and we follow strict rules and controls when selecting and photographing the models, as well as the subsequent selection of images,“ Zara has defended in statements to Drapers.
The complaint to the images published by Zara joins two other formal complaints that the ASA has already carried out in 2025. Just a few weeks ago, the agency reported a similar violation of the CAP code to Marks&Spencer, claiming that the model in one of its campaigns gave the impression of extreme thinness. In February, British company Next also received a similar complaint.