Converse apologized after social media users compared images from two separate ad campaigns to Ku Klux Klan hoods and lynching imagery. One of the images was still visible on the brand’s Threads account when the apology was issued.
The brand said, “We’re sorry. We understand why this image is deeply upsetting and recognize that we got this wrong. We removed it from our channels and are working to remove it everywhere it appeared. This should not have happened, and we will do better.”
Karina and Converse x Palmes
Karina of Aespa was the face of the Converse campaign featuring Karina, which spotlighted the Chuck 70 X and Run Star Crush sneakers. The photo showed her standing inside a Converse star while wearing a white skirt and holding two shoes on her left side.
The other image came from the Converse x Palmes campaign for the Jack Purcell PDM sneaker collection released earlier this month. In that image, shared to the Converse Malaysia Instagram account, a man was climbing a ladder while holding a pair of shoes dangling above him and hanging from a tree, while another man looked up.
On Threads, user ohthatmomglow wrote, “Showed my 13-year-old the new Converse ad with no context and said, ‘What does this make you think of?’ and within 2 seconds she said, ‘The KKK.’ It really is that big of a deal.” Another user, akwasichr1s, wrote, “The Klan silhouette is one thing. But the tree, ladder, and person in the distance looking up while holding up Converse shoes,” followed by, “Abhorrent. Unfathomable. Repugnant.”
Ayanna Pressley on Sept. 10
On Sept. 10, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and 59 colleagues called on the DOJ and FBI to investigate a series of incidents involving Black people found hanging across the country. That context added to the reaction as users linked the campaign imagery to violence that has not disappeared from public memory.
Converse said it was removing the image from its channels and working to remove it wherever it appeared, but the Threads post remained live at the time of writing. The company’s next step is not a new statement; it is whether that removal reaches every remaining account where the image is still visible.
