Converse apologizes for shoe ads that critics blasted as evoking the KKK

Source: New York Post

Converse has pulled a pair of ads and issued an apology after critics accused the sneaker brand of promoting imagery that evoked the Ku Klux Klan. The firestorm erupted around a campaign featuring Aespa singer Karina, who was shown clutching black high-top sneakers beneath a sharply defined, star-shaped spotlight while wearing a calf-length white skirt. Online critics fixated on the resulting silhouette, with some saying it looked like a Ku Klux Klan hood and others arguing that Karina’s pose with the shoes called to mind lynching imagery.