• by Tanya Gazdik , September 21, 2026

Converse has pulled an ad following “widespread backlash” that its imagery evokes a KKK hood and lynching. 

“Karina of the girl group Aespa is featured in the Nike-owned brand’s campaign promoting the Chuck 70 X and Run Star Crush sneakers,” according to People. “One image showed the K-pop star standing under the light of a star-shaped spotlight while holding a pair of black high-top sneakers and wearing a calf-length white skirt. The ad went viral as many social media users interpreted the imagery as racist.”

In the controversial photo “she is standing inside a Converse star with a white skirt while holding two shoes on her left side,” according to WWD. “Fans felt like the lighting on the skirt creates a white triangle shape that resembles a KKK hood, while the shoes appeared to look like two dangling legs. … The Ku Klux Klan historically has used lynchings, beatings and torture as a primary tool of racial terror and intimidation against Black people and other minority groups in the United States."

The brand apologized, saying it “got this wrong” (which is the exact phrasing ChatGPT uses when it screws up, incidentally.)

“We’re sorry. We understand why this image is deeply upsetting and recognize that we got this wrong,” according to the statement, released to media groups on Friday. “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 has declined to answer questions seeking additional information, including which agency created the ad, how the company screens ads before they are posted, and how the ad was approved, according to The New York Times.

"In a memo circulated to the Nike-owned company’s staff, CEO Aaron Cain said following the ad being pulled he would have to make the 'needed changes' over the image that conjured similarities to lynching and the Ku Klux Klan," according to Adweek.

Cain wrote in the internal memo that he and the leadership team "are taking a hard look at our internal review process and the critical lens we apply to our work."

This is far from the first time a brand has been under fire for being obtuse. 

“Retailers and top fashion brands have issued a string of apologies over the years for products criticized as being racially insensitive,” according to Eyewitness News ABC 7. “Last month, retailer Target pulled a children’s Halloween costume from its shelves after widespread social media backlash, apologizing for selling a garment that critics said evoked racist minstrel caricatures.”

Politicians are also weighing in on the ad, including Louisiana Congressman Troy Carter, who issued a press release.

“Nike and Converse, what the hell were you thinking?”  Carter said in the statement. “I am a Black man, a son of the South and a Member of Congress from Louisiana. Where I come from, the image of Black people hanging from trees is not ancient history. That pain still lives in our families and communities. The white hood is not some harmless costume. It is a symbol of terror, murder and generations of racial violence.”