Converse Removes Ad That Drew Comparisons to K.K.K. Imagery

The footwear and apparel company Converse said this week that it had taken down a sneaker advertisement that set off intense backlash as social media users said it was evocative of Ku Klux Klan imagery.One image in the campaign featured the bottom half of a person wearing a white garment, which commentators likened to a Klan robe, while the figure holds a pair of black sneakers.The lighting is such that the shoes, critics said, appear to be dangling in the air as if someone were being hanged.The shadows also create the outline of a long, tapering triangle that was compared to the pointed hood of a Klan robe, an image of racism indelibly seared into American history.“As a Black man and someone who loves Converse shoes, I find this very insensitive and distasteful,” Kendall Peacock, who runs the Education Firm, a tutoring and mentorship program in Atlanta, said on social media.“Deliberate racist intent hasn’t been established yet, but that doesn’t erase the impact,” he added.Stephanie Schwartz, a social justice photographer, wrote on social media, “Every photographer can tell you, whoever did this ad knew EXACTLY what they were doing.”Online commentators said that, taken together, the design evoked a lynching.“We’re sorry,” Converse said in an emailed statement on Saturday.“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,” the statement added.

“This should not have happened and we will do better.”It was not immediately clear who designed or approved the advertisement.Converse did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.The photo was part of a campaign that started internationally at the end of August to promote the Chuck 70 X sneaker.The promotion was a collaboration with the K-pop singer Karina, who is a member of the group aespa.

She was appointed as a global ambassador for Converse in June.R...