Converse apologises and pulls sneaker ad that critics said included racist imagery

The sneaker company Converse has removed a social media ad that sparked outrage among critics who viewed it as evoking the Ku Klux Klan and lynching.

The Instagram ad photo showed K-pop singer Karina wearing a skirt and holding a pair of Chuck 70 X sneakers. Critics lashed out online, saying that a white triangular image created by lighting on the skirt resembled a KKK hood and that the way she held the sneakers made them look like the dangling feet of a lynching victim.

Converse, owned by Nike, issued a statement apologising and saying it removed the ad.

“We’re sorry,” said the statement, first released on Friday (Sep 18). “We understand why this image is deeply upsetting and recognise 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, based in Boston, declined on Sunday to answer questions seeking additional information, including how the company screens ads before they are posted and how the ad was approved.

Karina and her management company, SM Entertainment Group, did not immediately respond to messages through their Instagram accounts.

Retailers and top fashion brands have issued a string of apologies over the years for products criticised as being racially insensitive.

Last month, retailer Target pulled a children’s Halloween costume from its shelves after widespread social media backlash, apologising for selling a garment that critics said evoked racist minstrel caricatures.

The Converse photo sparked swift criticism, including calls for staff involved in the ad to be fired and for a boycott of the company. In a slew of comments on social media, posters questioned how the ad could have cleared the company's advertising vetting process. Other commenters defended Converse, saying they didn't believe it was intentional.

Lee Merritt, a civil rights attorney based in Texas, posted on Instagram that Converse’s apology “doesn’t undo what got past legal, marketing and leadership at every step”.

“We keep having this conversation because corporations keep failing the same test,” he wrote. “Do better means catching this before it airs – not after we’re offended.”

Converse, founded in Malden, Massachusetts, in 1908, makes the iconic Chuck Taylor All Star sneaker. It was first released in 1917 as a non-skid basketball shoe, adding the signature of Taylor – a basketball player who promoted the sneaker – in 1934, according to the company's website.