Converse has apologized after a pair of recent campaigns drew heavy criticism online, with viewers comparing the imagery to Ku Klux Klan hoods and racist violence.
The controversy comes at an awkward time for Converse CONS, which has already gone through changes surrounding its skate team.
Several pro skaters like Milton Martinez have departed the roster, leaving the brand in the middle of a broader reshaping of its skate program.
READ MORE: Converse CONS Cuts the Team, Milton Martinez Closes the Chapter After 15 Years
Now the company is dealing with criticism.
One of the images features K-pop star Karina from Aespa as the face of a campaign for the Chuck 70 X and Run Star Crush.
She is standing inside a large Converse star while wearing a white skirt and holding two shoes at her side.
Some viewers saw the shape created by the skirt and lighting as resembling a white KKK hood.
Others said the positioning of the shoes looked like dangling legs, leading to comparisons with racist violence and lynching imagery.
The reaction quickly spread across social media.
One Threads user, ohthatmomglow, said they showed the advertisement to their 13-year-old without giving any context and claimed the first response was that it resembled the KKK.
That was not the only Converse campaign to attract criticism.
Another image from the recent Converse x Palmes collaboration for the Jack Purcell PDM collection was posted on the Converse Malaysia Instagram account.
The photo shows a man climbing a ladder while holding a pair of Converse shoes hanging above him. Another person can be seen looking upward in the background.
The combination of the tree, ladder and hanging shoes led some viewers to draw even stronger comparisons to racist imagery.
Threads user akwasichr1s criticized the photo, pointing to the combination of the elements in the scene and calling the imagery deeply offensive.
Converse eventually responded to the backlash.
@zzxuuys Converse Faces Backlash as New Ad Reminds Viewers of the KKK#news #typ #kkk #converse #tiktok ♬ original sound - zzxuuys
The company told Footwear News that it was sorry, acknowledged why people found the image upsetting and said it had removed the image from its channels while working to take it down from other places where it appeared.
The statement also said the campaign should not have happened and that the company would do better.
At the time of writing, however, the image was reportedly still visible on Converse's Threads account.
The criticism is particularly sensitive because of the history associated with the KKK.
The organization was founded in 1865 and became associated with white supremacy, racial terror and violence against Black Americans.
White hoods became one of its most recognizable symbols.
Lynchings were also used as a method of racial terror, particularly against Black communities in the United States.
That history is why the visual comparisons have generated such a strong reaction, even though Converse has not said that the imagery was intended to reference the KKK or racist violence.
For a company with such a deep connection to basketball, music, fashion and skateboarding, the reaction shows how quickly an advertising concept can become a much bigger conversation once it reaches social media.
For Converse CONS, the timing is even more notable.
The skate division has already been dealing with changes to its roster, with the brand adjusting its direction.
Now one of Converse's latest campaigns is creating another headache for the company, this time far outside skateboarding.