In one image of K-pop star Karina, the lighting and cropping create a silhouette that users say resembles Ku Klux Klan hoods. Another image shows models climbing for shoes hanging from a tree branch.
Photographer Stephanie Schwartz writes in a post: “Any photographer can say that whoever made this commercial knew EXACTLY what they were doing.”
“As a black man and someone who loves Converse shoes, I find this very insensitive and tasteless,” reads another comment on social media.
Converse apologised in a statement: “We understand why this image is deeply upsetting and recognise that we were wrong.” The company also says: “This should not have happened, and we will do better.”
