Mike Bird
Not their first "controversial" box art: ZTZ99A (Border Model BT-022, 1:35)

Wouldn't surprise me if it was deliberate to get attention!

Antony Theocharidis Author
@Mike Bird agreed. This together with their shady practices around ships now (releasing the same ships as VeryFire, teasing Shinano to corner other makers but not actually releasing it), and the drama about some tank a couple years back has left me quite sour about their choices, and a shame too because their kits are very nicely tooled.

Markus Antonius
That ZTZ99 cover is pretty funny actually.

Corentin D.
the ZTZ 99 cover is just a tongue in cheek joke, but that merkava cover art is just being edgy for no reason

Shar Dipree
What's the problem with the cover? The child in the background and/or the destroyed houses?
Unfortunately, it is the reality:
Youtube Video
Youtube Video

Mike Bird
I don't think anyone in this thread is denying the reality or objecting on accuracy grounds, rather I (and presumably others) are uneasy about using the reality to sell model kits.

Corentin D.
how would you react if someone made a german tank boxart with the Oradour-sur-Glane massacre in the background ? would you say "oh but unfortunatly it's reality"

Shar Dipree
@Mike Bird, using reality: This is a kit for a violent machine. The reality of these machines is used to create an image of them and then sell it. We buy the kit, build it, possibly combine it with a war diorama, and put it on the shelf. And then you get upset about the tank being depicted with a corresponding background (important: the child is apparently neither injured nor run over or shot at.)?
Are you also annoyed by the many covers with planes firing their weapons or another plane crashing in the background, burning?
I can't understand at the moment.

@Corentin D.: Differentiate? Is the child on the cover massacred, killed, shot, run over, or something similar?

I understand what you mean, but I don't get the gist of it.
It's about a child who is apparently neither injured nor being shot or anything else. And we're talking about a tank here. Tanks, in particular, symbolize only one thing: violence. And in my opinion, that doesn't get any better just because you put the tank in a meadow full of butterflies.
Regardless, I highly doubt that the kit will sell better just because of the choice of this cover.