Converse has apologised and withdrawn an advertising campaign for its Chuck 70 X trainer after critics said the imagery evoked the Ku Klux Klan and lynching. The Nike-owned brand acknowledged it had "got this wrong" and said it was working to remove the ad from all platforms, following accusations that the campaign made it through legal, marketing and leadership without anyone flagging the resemblance.

The ad featured K-pop star Karina in a white skirt holding a pair of Converse shoes at her side, which some compared to imagery of a lynching victim's feet, while the lighting on her skirt was likened to a pointed white hood. Civil rights attorney Lee Merritt criticised the company on X, saying an apology does not undo the failure to catch the issue before publication, while other users vowed to boycott the brand. The backlash follows a separate controversy weeks earlier over Converse's Jack Purcell PDM campaign, which showed a man on a ladder holding sneakers hanging from a tree, and comes after an earlier row over a Charli XCX sneaker collaboration criticised for its "poor design".