Converse was accused of putting racist imagery into a Korean sneaker advertisement after a cropped image was circulated on social media. However, the full image paints a very different picture. Converse apologized anyway.
Converse is under fire for an image going around on social media. Many claim that it is meant to invoke a person hanging from a tree and a KKK hood.
The truth is that it does neither of those things.
An image from a Korean Converse advertisement was cropped to make it appear to be something it was not.
The Converse All Star campaign featured K-Pop singer Karina from Aespa.
Here is the cropped/altered image some people are upset about.
People claim the shoes she’s holding look like someone hanging. You can see how the light of the Converse star logo moves up her white skirt, and some with either strong imaginations or the need for constant outrage think it is meant to represent a clan hood.
Here is the full image for the advertisement
As you can see, the image was cropped and altered to appear darker and bring out the light and shadow more so it could be perpetuated as racist.
It isn’t.
Now Converse has apologized
FN (Footwear News) reached out to Converse and was given this statement:
“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.”
I’m not sure why Converse apologized, as they did nothing wrong.
The image clearly does not do what some claimed it did by sharing a cropped section of the advertising campaign.
Somehow, an advertisement from another country was deliberately taken out of context and used to mislead people across the internet.
Yet the company had to apologize.
Maybe don’t believe everything you see on social media.
Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.
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Hat Tips:
Footwear News (Sept. 18, 2026), Karla Rodriguez discusses Converse apologizing for a Korean advertisement.
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