Athletic shoe and apparel giant Converse has apologized after a new ad triggered hysterics who likened the imagery to the Ku Klux Klan and lynching.
The ridiculous controversy erupted over the ad, which featured its Chuck 70 classic high top and K-Pop star Karina, in which she was toting a pair of the sneakers while wearing a white dress, with some claiming that the imagery evoked the days when black folks were being strung up from trees.
Instead of simply rejecting the idiotic idea that the Nike-owned subsidiary would be sending out subliminal pro-lynching messages, it yanked the ad, then groveled and begged for forgiveness, caving to the outrage mob with a whimper.
Karina of K-Pop group Aespa was featured in a new Converse All-Stars ad for Asian markets. The American internet decided it was racist. The rest of the world said “stop looking at everything through racism colored glasses,” “the whole world doesn’t revolve around you, sheesh.” pic.twitter.com/pr3Y5G9j0M
— Libby Emmons (@libbyemmons) September 19, 2026
“Nike and Converse, what the hell were you thinking?” Rep. Troy Carter (D-La.) demanded in an angry social media post.
“Your campaign shows what looks like a hooded Klansman, framed by what appears to be the dangling feet of a lynching victim. There is nothing creative or artistic about it. It is racist, reckless and deeply offensive,” raged the black Bayou State Democrat about the ad, which was intended for Asian markets.
Wasting little time in bowing to the mob, the company pulled the ad and pledged to “do better” going forward.
“We’re sorry. 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,” it said in a statement.
But it’s not enough to apologize because the “woke” thought police will NEVER be satisfied.
Civil rights attorney Lee Merritt, whose X feed is a torrent of racial grievances, opined that groveling alone isn’t going to cut it, suggesting that the company should get about with lynching the creative team behind the ad.
A Converse ad shows a woman wearing white attire lit to form what looks like a KKK hood.
Sneakers dangling beside her, read by many as lynching imagery.
This wasn’t hidden. It was styled, lit, and approved by a creative team.
Someone signed off on this.
Converse says sorry.… pic.twitter.com/nKpGIn1FCz
— Lee Merritt (@LeeMerrittesq) September 18, 2026
“A Converse ad shows a woman wearing white attire lit to form what looks like a KKK hood. Sneakers dangling beside her, read by many as lynching imagery. This wasn’t hidden. It was styled, lit, and approved by a creative team. Someone signed off on this,” he wrote.
“Converse says sorry. The image was still up hours later,” Merritt continued. “An apology doesn’t undo what got past legal, marketing, and leadership at every step. We keep having this conversation because corporations keep failing the same test. Do better means catching this before it airs — not after we’re offended.”
The firestorm comes amid troubled times for Nike, which has seen its stock careening downward after years of in-your-face “woke” messaging alienated consumers.
Nike is set to be removed from the S&P 100 after 18 years. As NBA great Michael Jordan once famously put it: “Republicans buy sneakers too.”
The Converse ad outrage storm should be a reminder that the “woke” inquisition isn’t dead, despite largely going dormant after President Donald J. Trump took office.
It also reared its ugly head last month when thin-skinned hysterics and activists forced Target to pull a “blackface” kid’s Halloween clown costume because they claimed it was racist.
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