Converse apologizes, pulls sneaker ad, after critics cite KKK and lynching imagery

Did a Converse ad featuring K-pop singer Karina evoke a Klan hood and a lynching? After critics said it did, the company apologized, removed the image and said it is reviewing its approval process.

By EEW Magazine Online News Editors

An EEW Magazine Online illustration of the Converse ad featuring Karina. Critics said the image’s lighting and the position of the sneakers evoked Klan and lynching imagery. Credit: EEW Magazine Online illustration.

Converse has removed a sneaker ad featuring K-pop singer Karina and apologized after critics said its lighting and composition evoked a Ku Klux Klan hood and a lynching, The Associated Press reported.

The image shows Karina, a member of the group aespa, standing in a star-shaped spotlight and holding a pair of black Chuck 70 X sneakers.

A triangular patch of white light falls across her skirt. Critics said the shape resembled a Klan hood and the shoes hanging from her hands looked like the feet of a lynching victim.

“We’re sorry,” Converse said in a statement first released Friday. “We understand why this image is deeply upsetting and recognize that we got this wrong.” The Nike-owned company said it had removed the ad from its channels and was working to remove it everywhere it appeared.

Adweek reported that Converse posted the image to Threads on Sept. 3 with the caption, “Under stage lights or streetlights, the star always finds the frame.”

The image prompted calls for a boycott and questions about how it passed the company’s review process. Some commenters defended Converse, saying they did not believe the imagery was intentional.

Karina of the K-pop group aespa appears in a Converse campaign for the Chuck 70 X sneaker. Critics said the lighting and placement of the shoes in the larger image evoked Klan and lynching imagery. Converse removed the ad and apologized. Images: Converse

Rep. Troy Carter, D-La., condemned the campaign in a Sept. 18 statement. He said the image appeared to show a hooded Klansman alongside the feet of a lynching victim and argued that it should never have been created, approved or released.

Lee Merritt, a Texas civil rights attorney, who represented the family of Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man who was chased and fatally shot by three white men while jogging in Georgia in February 2020, weighed in on the controversial promotional campaign.

"We keep having this conversation because corporations keep failing the same test," Merritt said in an X post. "Do better means catching this before it airs — not after we’re offended.”

A separate Converse ad drew criticism as the Karina image circulated. Posted Sept. 14 through Converse Mexico’s Instagram account, it promoted a collaboration with Danish brand Palmes and showed a man on a ladder near a tree holding sneakers overhead, Adweek reported.

A separate Converse ad for its collaboration with Palmes shows a person on a ladder holding sneakers near a tree. The image also drew criticism after it circulated alongside the Karina ad. Credit: Converse/Palmes; EEW Magazine Online graphic

Social media users shared the two images together and drew comparisons to lynching imagery.

Converse CEO Aaron Cain told employees that the images should not have been used and that the company began removing them when concerns were raised, Bloomberg reported. He said company leaders were reviewing the internal approval process.

Converse declined to answer questions about how it screens advertisements or how the Karina image was approved. Karina and her management company, SM Entertainment Group, did not immediately respond to AP’s requests for comment.

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