Converse pulls controversial ad, apologizes following backlash over alleged KKK imagery – ABC News – Breaking News, Latest News and Videos

Converse pulls controversial ad, apologizes following backlash over alleged KKK imagery  ABC News – Breaking News, Latest News and Videos

Converse received public backlash last week after posting an advertisement that critics said appeared to depict Ku Klux Klan symbolism and lynching. "This should not have happened and we will do better,” Converse said. One of the images in the ad showed the bottom half of a person wearing a white, calf-length skirt-like garment that some critics said resembled a KKK robe, while holding a pair of black sneakers in one hand with their arm fully extended down by their side. Critics said lighting in the photograph makes the shoes look as if they are dangling in the air next to the person in the white garment, resembling someone being hanged.

Shadows in the photograph also create a triangle-shaped light on the white robe that critics said further resembled the top peak of a Klan hood. “We’re sorry. We understand why this image is deeply upsetting and recognize that we got this wrong,” Converse, who is owned by Nike Inc., said in a statement to ABC News Monday. “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.” Civil rights attorney Lee Merritt, who represented the family of Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man who was chased and fatally shot by three white men while jogging