AI-generated image by Ryan Joe via ChatGPT By Ryan Joe --> It’s the summer of the big brand apology , and Converse just had its turn at the wheel.
The Nike-owned brand stirred up some social media users with a pair of ads they said recalled Klan imagery.
The first ad raised ire after it was posted on Converse’s Threads account on Sept. 3 showcasing its recently-released Chuck 70 X sneaker. The creative featured Converse’s new global ambassador, Karina from the Kpop group aespa—currently on a world tour.
Karina stands in a spotlight shaped like Converse’s famous star, one point highlighting a bright white triangle on her skirt, such that some social media users see the outline of a Klansman’s hood. Additionally, Karina’s long skirt, coupled with the shoes dangling from her hands, evoke for some the image of a Klansman standing next to the victim of a lynching.
Actress Yvette Nicole Brown wrote on Threads : “That’s a lynching, yes?”
The brand apologized in a statement first reported by Women’s Wear Daily , and sent to 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 did not comment beyond this statement.
The controversy over the Chuck 70 X ad has also drawn a separate Converse ad into the online rage machine. This ad, previously released on Sept. 14 , is for a collab with Danish lifestyle brand Palmes and features a man on a ladder holding a pair of sneakers overhead.
Fitness content creator Kida Maree posted both ads side by side and wrote, “There is NO REASON why WE should see an advertisement & immediately think of Strange Fruit by Billie Holiday.”
To be sure, others on social media feel the outrage is overblown. Culture writer Meecham Whitson Meriweather on Threads compared it to the backlash that led to Pepsi’s July apology for its Wild Cherry post: “everyone is insane.”
Meriweather noted the caption posted under the ad featuring Karina that read: “Under stage lights or streetlights, the star always finds the frame.”
“Like the caption tells you what is happening, what is being referenced,” Meriweather wrote. “Y’all don’t know how to talk about art and that’s the problem.”
Converse isn’t the only brand that’s gone on a recent apology tour.
Besides Pepsi, Neutrogena acknowledged old allegations from late actress Hayden Panettiere ; Target offered its mea culpa after releasing an offensive Halloween costume ; and Callaway Golf CEO Chip Brewer repudiated an ad featuring a collab with Good Good Golf, in which Good Good’s cofounder Garrett Clark bodyslammed colleague Alexis Miestowski.
Ryan Joe is the editor in chief of Adweek.
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