Viewers Slam Converse Over 'Deeply Upsetting' Ad

Converse's latest sneaker campaign lasted just long enough to spark a firestorm. The shoe brand has yanked a Chuck 70 X ad featuring K-pop star Karina after viewers said the imagery evoked both Ku Klux Klan robes and a lynching, reports TMZ. In the now-pulled promo, Karina holds a pair of black sneakers that appear to hang beneath a large, pointed piece of white fabric, a visual that critics said resembled a hood with dangling shoes. Converse scrubbed the image from social media and other platforms and told Footwear News it understands why people found the ad "deeply upsetting," acknowledged it "got this wrong," and pledged to do better.

"This should not have happened," it added. The company hasn't been accused of intentionally referencing the KKK, but the backlash is fueling questions about how such an image cleared internal review. One photographer isn't so sure the ad was accidental, per the Los Angeles Times. "Shadow, light, and composition," wrote Stephanie Schwartz on Threads. "Every photographer can tell you, whoever did this ad knew EXACTLY what they were doing."