Zara model with freckles called ‘ugly’ in China as new campaign sparks beauty debate

A Zara model with freckles has sparked a debate in China about what it means to be beautiful.

The new campaign featuring model Jing Wen has been dubbed "ugly" by some consumers who are arguing that women in China "do not have freckles." The images were shared on Chinese social media Weibo earlier this week to promote Zara's new makeup collection. While some people commented on the images saying that the 25-year-old looked "beautiful," others argued that the advertisement was a "failure." "Sorry, we Asian women do not have freckles," wrote one person. Another wrote that the photo looked "ugly" and was not representative of Chinese women, while somebody else said the campaign was an "insult." "Such pictures featuring an Asian model with freckles and an expressionless pie-shaped face mislead Westerners' impressions about Asian women, and can lead to racism against Asian women," one comment read. Although it is rare for Asian women to have freckles, they are not entirely uncommon. Jing Wen's freckles are natural. She said that while she used to be quite self conscious of them when she was younger, she now no longer tries to cover them up. In 2016, she told Vogue that she "really hated them" but has since changed her mind. "In high school, I always tried to cover them, but now it's OK," she said. "I like them, and that's enough." Zara has since responded to the controversy surrounding the campaign. They assured Pear Video subscribers (a Chinese video streaming site) that Jing Wen's appearance had not been digitally altered for the shoot. "The aesthetics of the Spanish people are different," they said. "Our models are all photographed purely, the pictures aren't changed, and they're not modified."