Converse Apologizes for Ads Critics Say Evoked Lynching Imagery
Converse pulled two ads, including one starring aespa's Karina, after users said the Chuck 70 X creative evoked Klan imagery. The Nike-owned brand said "we got this wrong."
Updated
The brief
- Converse posted the Chuck 70 X ad featuring aespa's Karina on Threads on Sept. 3 and pulled it after users said it evoked lynching and Klan imagery.
- The brand apologized in a statement first reported by Women's Wear Daily, saying 'we got this wrong' and that it is working to remove the image everywhere it appeared.
- Backlash spread to a second Converse ad from Sept. 14 for a Palmes collab, amid a summer of brand apologies from Pepsi, Neutrogena, Target and Callaway Golf.
Converse has apologized and pulled a pair of advertisements after social media users said the creative evoked imagery of a lynching and Ku Klux Klan iconography.
The first ad appeared Sept. 3 on Converse's Threads account, promoting the recently released Chuck 70 X sneaker. It featured Karina, the brand's new global ambassador and member of the K-pop group aespa, currently on a world tour. Karina stands in a spotlight shaped like Converse's signature star, with one point illuminating a bright white triangle on her skirt — an arrangement some users said resembled the outline of a Klansman's hood. Her long skirt, paired with sneakers dangling from her hands, led others to see a Klansman standing beside a lynching victim.
Actress Yvette Nicole Brown wrote on Threads: "That's a lynching, yes?"
The Nike-owned brand apologized in a statement first reported by Women's Wear Daily and shared with Adweek: "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."
Converse declined to comment beyond the statement.
The backlash has since swept up a second Converse ad. Released Sept. 14 for a collaboration with Danish lifestyle brand Palmes, the creative shows a man on a ladder holding a pair of sneakers overhead. Fitness content creator Kida Maree posted the two ads side by side and wrote: "There is NO REASON why WE should see an advertisement & immediately think of Strange Fruit by Billie Holiday."
Not everyone agrees the outrage is warranted. Culture writer Meecham Whitson Meriweather compared the reaction on Threads to the backlash that forced Pepsi's July apology over its Wild Cherry post, writing: "everyone is insane."
Meriweather pointed to the caption under the Karina ad, which read: "Under stage lights or streetlights, the star always finds the frame." He argued the copy explained the reference. "Like the caption tells you what is happening, what is being referenced," he wrote. "Y'all don't know how to talk about art and that's the problem."
The episode fits a broader pattern of brand apologies this summer. Pepsi apologized in July for its Wild Cherry post. Neutrogena acknowledged old allegations involving the late actress Hayden Panettiere. Target issued a mea culpa after releasing an offensive Halloween costume. Callaway Golf CEO Chip Brewer repudiated an ad for a collaboration with Good Good Golf, in which Good Good cofounder Garrett Clark bodyslammed colleague Alexis Miestowski.
Based on Adweek; threads.com
Filed under converse, brand-apology, social-media-backlash, ad-controversy, nike
Elena Vasquez
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Senior reporter covering media and advertising at Marketing Herald.