Converse may have removed evidence of what many see as a racially charged shoe ad on social media that pointed to what some see as a wild subliminal message, but not before people took screenshots and shared their thoughts online. In the ad, a person in a white dress holds a pair of Converse sneakers as light shines on the dress and suspended shoes in a specific way that did not sit right with people.
Many called out the ad for being racist and having undertones of lynching. Afterward, politicians also called out the brand, a subsidiary of Nike, and Converse released a statement about the offensive ad. The ad is no longer on social media, but users haven’t forgotten it, and they have used other Converse Instagram posts to keep sharing their thoughts on the now-deleted photo.
A Converse ad is getting criticized for what some see as a hidden message.
@oddcast_ Dear Converse care to explain this ad for us all?#greenscreen ♬ nhạc nền – Plennus
After the Converse ad went live, a user on TikTok posted about it to share his thoughts. In the video, he shows the photo, which some believe looks like a Ku Klux Klan white hood and a lynching, due to the light, colors, and placement of a pair of shoes seemingly suspended from nothing. The hidden message, which really isn’t all that hidden when given the details of the photo, is one of racism, according to some.
“Um, Converse, we’re not tripping, right?” The user says in his video. “We’re not? Nah. Come on. Nah. I don’t know. I might be tripping. Like, is this an official ad I see? I don’t know what I see. Am I tripping?”
In the comments, users wrote that it isn’t just in his own imagination. He doesn’t have to say out loud what he might be thinking about the photo because, as other users commented, they also see the imagery the Converse ad seems to display, even if the intent wasn’t offensive toward one race.
“I don’t believe you are,” a user wrote, in reference to the creator’s question of whether or not he is seeing things. “Not one bit. A dog whistle isn’t a blowhorn. It’s subtle. Insidious. The power lies not in its intensity, but in remaining nearly imperceptible to everyone except the intended audience.”
“It instantly made me uncomfortable,” someone else commented. “Before I could even process the imagery, I didn’t like the feeling of it.”
Another wrote, “The white sheet dress, the shoes held to the side making it look like someone’s hanging, the triangle on the dress looking like a hood…if this s–t isn’t subliminal, it’s one hell of a coincidence, and I’m not a sucker.”
Users on social media called it propaganda for racism.
Although the ad was taken down, users on Instagram commented on other posts on Converse’s Instagram account to shame the brand for the ad in the first place. Under one post that had nothing to do with the offending ad, a user commented, “You have a marketing team, and the KKKonverse is what y’all came up with?? Intentional, to say the least. Many people saw this and passed it along. Tone deaf in every way.”
Under another post, with a photoshoot from a bowling alley, someone else added a comment to once again point to the Converse ad that caused a stir on social media.
“I’m a white middle-aged Canadian woman,” they wrote. “I saw your ad and knew instantly what it represented. You knew exactly what you were doing. As someone who wore your shoes my whole life, and has bought them for my son since he was a toddler, I can assure you that I will never purchase a @converse or @nike product again.”
Converse released a statement about the ad.
According to Shreveport Times, Louisiana Congressman Troy Carter spoke out publicly about the ad. He said that he wants to see “meaningful changes in leadership, oversight and safeguards” so that ads depicting potential lynchings and torture of Black people will not be seen as “edgy advertising.”
Converse did release a statement about the ad, which was taken down soon after the backlash flooded in.
“This should not have happened, and we will do better,” the company reportedly said. “We’re sorry. We understand why this image is deeply upsetting and recognize that we got this wrong.”
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