Converse apologizes for sneaker ad after critics say it uses racist imagery

Sneaker company Converse has pulled an ad that was criticized for evoking racist imagery.

Shared on Instagram, the image featured K-pop singer Karina wearing a long white skirt and holding a pair of classic Chuck 70 X hi-top sneakers. Online critics said the triangular-shaped skirt resembled a Ku Klux Klan hood, while the way the singer is depicted holding a pair of sneakers also conjures up the image of a lynching victim.

Converse, which is owned by Nike, has apologized for the ad and pulled it from the internet. 

“We’re sorry,” the company said in a statement to CBS News. “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.”

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.”

Converse, founded in Malden, Massachusetts, in 1908, first released its Chuck Taylor All Star basketball sneaker in 1917. 

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

Marketing experts and social justice advocates panned the ad as culturally insensitive, with some critics speculating that the spot may have been intentionally crafted to draw attention by sparking outrage.

“It’s a strategy in an attention economy. We have the sense that these images move so many different gateways before they get in front of the public, so it’s hard to imagine nobody flagged what feels so abundantly apparent,” Nadine Smith, CEO of Color of Change, a racial justice organization, told CBS News.

Marcus Collins, a marketing and culture expert at the Michigan Ross School of Business, said that while he doesn’t think Converse’s marketing team set out to cause offense, intention matters less than the public’s perception of the image.

“Converse’s response was not commensurate with the amount of anguish people responded to the ad with,” he told CBS News. The company is now tasked with rebuilding trust with consumers, he added.

Converse isn’t the only brand to have recently faced consumer backlash over an ad accused of racism. In August, discount retailer Target stopped selling a children’s Halloween costume that some critics said evoked racist minstrel caricatures, The Associated Press reported. 

Target acknowledged that the costume was inappropriate. 

“The costume is offensive and should never have been part of our assortment. It is no longer available for sale,” Target said in a statement last month. “We know this is especially hurtful for our Black guests, team members and partners. Removing the costume is an important first step, and the company is looking closely at how this happened and what needs to change to ensure this won’t happen again.”