Converse has apologized and pulled a global advertisement featuring K-pop star Karina after critics said the imagery evoked the Ku Klux Klan and lynching. The ad depicted the aespa leader wearing a skirt and holding a pair of Chuck 70 X sneakers, but online commenters said a white triangular shape formed by lighting on her skirt resembled a Klan hood, while the way she held the sneakers made them look like the dangling feet of a lynching victim.
The Boston-based sneaker brand, a subsidiary of Nike, said the advertisement should not have happened and that it would do better, according to Boston.com. The company said it is working to remove the ad everywhere it appeared but declined to answer additional questions about how the image was screened or approved before it was posted, per the same report. Karina, who is represented by SM Entertainment Group, did not immediately respond to messages sent through Instagram, and the agency likewise did not respond, the outlet noted.
Lawmaker Demands Answers on Vetting Process
Louisiana Congressman Troy Carter issued a statement calling the imagery “racist, reckless and deeply offensive,” and demanded to know who approved the advertisement and whether any Black team members were involved in reviewing it, according to a statement from Carter's congressional office. Social media commenters have separately questioned how the ad cleared Converse's advertising vetting process at all, while some critics have called for a boycott of the brand and for the staff involved to be fired, the Boston.com report said.
Not everyone framed the incident as intentional. Other commenters said they did not believe the imagery was deliberate, even as the backlash intensified. Civil rights attorney Lee Merritt, who is based in Texas, pushed back on that framing, saying corporations keep failing the same test and that Converse's apology did not undo what had already passed through legal, marketing, and leadership review.
Attorney Says Apology Does Not Erase Vetting Failures
Merritt expanded on that critique in comments reported by UNILAD, emphasizing that the ad was styled, lit, and cleared through multiple levels of corporate review, and that an apology issued only after public offense does not erase systemic vetting failures. Chicago-based photographer Stephanie Schwartz and actress Yvette Nicole Brown also criticized the ad's composition, with Schwartz noting on Threads that lighting, shadow, and framing choices reflect deliberate decisions made during professional photoshoots, according to Newswav.
The controversy did not exist in isolation. Converse faced simultaneous backlash over another marketing image from its collaboration with Copenhagen-based apparel brand Palmes, which showed one person standing on a ladder with shoes hanging from a tree branch, the same Newswav report noted.
Karina's Global Ambassador Role and the Chuck 70 X Launch
Karina was named Converse's Global Brand Ambassador on June 29, 2026, expanding a regional ambassador role with Converse Korea that began in early 2024, according to Jing Daily. The campaign was tied to the global launch of the Chuck 70 X sneaker line on August 27, 2026, which Converse marketed with an Asian-foot-specific last and Amped cushioning insoles, per the outlet.
The episode echoes a similar controversy from a month earlier involving Minneapolis-based Target, which pulled a $25 Halloween costume from its Hyde & EEK! Boutique line after online critics said its black face mask and exaggerated smile mimicked Jim Crow-era minstrel caricatures, as Hoodline previously reported. Both incidents have fueled broader questions about how national brands vet imagery before it reaches the public.
A Storied Brand Under Financial Pressure
Converse traces its roots to 1908 in Malden, Massachusetts, and built its identity around the Chuck Taylor All Star, first released in 1917 as a non-skid basketball shoe before adding Chuck Taylor's signature in 1934, per the Boston.com account. Nike announced a $305 million deal to acquire the company in July 2003, subject to regulatory approval, according to CBS News. Converse is based in Boston.
The advertising fallout also lands during a difficult financial stretch for the brand. Converse reported global revenues of $1.17 billion for fiscal year 2026, a 31 percent year-over-year decline across all international territories, according to Nike's own fiscal 2026 results. Whether Nike or Converse will overhaul its advertising review process in response to the controversy remains an open question, as the company has not detailed how the Karina ad was approved or why it was not caught before publication.
