Converse pulls Karina advertisement after backlash over racist imagery
The Nike-owned sneaker company apologised after critics said an Instagram image evoked a Ku Klux Klan hood and a lynching victim’s dangling feet.
Converse has removed a social media advertisement featuring K-pop singer Karina after critics said its imagery evoked racist symbols. The company apologised and said the advertisement should not have appeared.
The Instagram photograph showed Karina wearing a skirt and holding a pair of Chuck 70 X sneakers. Critics said a white triangular shape created by lighting on the skirt resembled a Ku Klux Klan hood, while the way the sneakers were held recalled the dangling feet of a lynching victim.
“We understand why this image is deeply upsetting and recognise that we got this wrong,” Converse said in a statement reported by The Guardian. The company said it had removed the advertisement from its channels and was working to remove it everywhere it appeared.
Converse, which is owned by Nike and makes Chuck Taylor sneakers, declined to provide further information about how the advertisement was approved or screened. It remains unclear how widely the image appeared or whether it has been removed from every platform.
The advertisement prompted calls for staff dismissals and a boycott, while some commenters disputed that the imagery was intentional. Texas-based civil rights attorney Lee Merritt criticised the company’s apology, arguing that the imagery should have been identified before publication.
Karina’s management company, SM Entertainment Group, did not immediately respond to messages. The backlash follows other apologies from retailers and fashion brands over products criticised as racially insensitive, including Target’s withdrawal of a children’s Halloween costume in August.
