I am begging you to look at this picture and tell me how this made it through an entire advertising department.
Because Converse really posted this.
Not a parody. Not AI. Not something somebody made on Facebook.
This was an official image from Converse’s new Chuck 70 X campaign.
And people immediately noticed a pretty horrifying problem.
The white dress combined with the lighting creates what looks an awful lot like a pointed KKK hood.
Then right next to it?
A pair of black Converse are dangling in the air.
So people weren’t just seeing KKK imagery.
They were seeing what looked like a KKK hood next to a hanging body.
I mean.
COME ON.
Converse Has Now Apologized
The backlash got big enough that Converse removed the image from several of its channels and issued an apology.
According to Footwear News, the company said it understood why the image was “deeply upsetting,” acknowledged that it got this wrong and said it was working to remove the picture everywhere it had appeared.
And just to be clear: there is no evidence Converse intentionally created racist imagery here.
The campaign uses the Converse star as part of its visual design, and the shoes are literally being held by the model. The Washington Post also reported that the image was part of the official Chuck 70 X promotion.
Fine.
Accident.
But also…
HOW DID NOBODY SEE IT?
This wasn’t somebody accidentally taking a weird picture on their iPhone.
It’s a global Converse campaign.
There were photographers. Editors. Creative directors. Marketing people. Approvals.
Presumably many, many eyeballs.
And apparently nobody looked at the giant pointed white shape next to the dangling black shoes and said:
Guys?
Because once you see it, you are never going to see a sneaker ad again.
