In September 2026, footwear company Converse published an ad that social media users said evoked Ku Klux Klan and lynching imagery.
In September 2026, a rumor circulated online that the footwear company Converse had allegedly released an advertisement that some social media users believed evoked Ku Klux Klan and lynching imagery.
The advertisement that Converse purportedly published showed the bottom half of a person in white holding Converse shoes. The shadows and lighting in the ad create an optical illusion that looked, to some, like a Ku Klux Klan hood and the feet of a hanging person.
Much of the online discourse related to the ad took place on Threads, although posts on Reddit, X, Facebook (screenshotted) and Instagram (screenshotted) also expressed outrage or shared thoughts about the ad’s imagery.
Snopes readers asked us if the ad was real and searched the website for “racist Converse ad” and if there was a “Nike Converse commercial” that “looked like a lynching.” (Nike owns Converse.)
Converse did, in fact, publish the advertisement (archived) in question as part of its campaign with singer Karina, a member of the K-pop girl group Aespa, to promote the “Chuck 70 X,” a newer version of the company’s classic Chuck 70 shoes. As such, we have rated this claim as true.
The footwear company did not immediately return an inquiry for more information about its design and approval process, as well as whether Converse plans to pull the ad following online backlash.
A spokesperson for Converse sent the following statement over email when we asked about the ad:
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.
As of this writing, a link connected to Converse’s official Threads account still shows the image in a Sept. 3 post. However, the post does not show up on Converse’s main Threads page (archived), suggesting the company may have archived the post to hide it from viewers.
(Converse on Threads)
Per the Wayback Machine archive, an earlier, Aug. 22 version of Converse’s U.S. page advertising the Karina and Chuck 70 X collaboration showed that the company had at one point used the image in question on its website. It has since been removed and replaced with a clip of Karina modeling the shoes while wearing a white skirt — presumably the same skirt shown in the controversial picture.
An Aug. 22 version of the Converse page promoting Chuck 70 X shoes in collaboration with Karina. (Converse/Wayback Machine)
Was the campaign created outside US?
Some of the claim posts also said the campaign was created in Malaysia, and thus the team behind it might not have had the cultural and historical context necessary to understand why
Social media users shared screenshots indicating that the image may have initially been posted on the Converse Malaysia Instagram page.
Without more information from Converse, it was not possible to verify whether any members of the creative team were based in or from the U.S. That image was not on Converse Malaysia’s Instagram account. A search of the Converse Malaysia website for “Chuck 70 X” returned an error message.
Some posts also shared another advertisement showing a person on a ladder holding Converse shoes, which some social media users similarly thought evoked lynching imagery.
That image is a real Converse ad, too, as evidenced by the fact that was still on Converse Chile’s account (screenshotted) as of this writing.
However, the image of the person on the ladder came from a separate campaign that was shot in Italy, according to a LinkedIn post from the founder of Palmes, a tennis and menswear company that collaborated with Converse on it.
