It took me a hot minute to understand why Converse was being accused of racism. A recent ad they put forward was being hailed as a dog whistle for white supremacy, and it was hard for me to understand the reason.
Mostly because this was an ad from South Korea, played in South Korea, for South Koreans that featured South Korean K-pop star Karina wearing and displaying Converse shoes.
America wasn’t involved in this, though since Converse owns global outside of Converse Japan, they had to make the statement. This ad was done through Converse Korea. This was the video that accompanied the photoset. pic.twitter.com/fmAwZwuSmW
— Kari (@KariDaniels) September 19, 2026
Did you spot the racism? Me, either.
It was a singular moment in the video that can more easily be seen in one of the many photo versions of the ad.
Welp. Converse PR is about to have a LONG day. pic.twitter.com/ZO49SjFVxf
— Kari (@KariDaniels) September 18, 2026
Do you see it now?
If you still don't, I don't blame you. You don't see it because you're not looking to be offended every five minutes.
What you see is a South Korean woman holding a pair of Converse underneath a light shaped like a star. What the race baiter sees is a glowing KKK hood next to a pair of black shoes representing someone being hanged from a tree.
What I see is a Rorschach test that you can actually fail.
I'd be content to just have the race baiters lose their minds because losing their minds is what race baiters do. Many of them make a good living off claiming every inane and innocent thing is actually a heinous plot to normalize racism and bigotry. The legacy media considers it one of their bread-and-butter subjects.
But Converse actually took the bait and fed the race baiters in return by pulling the ad and apologizing, according to The Grio.
“We’re sorry. We understand why this image is deeply upsetting and recognize that we got this wrong,” the brand began in a statement to theGrio. “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.”
Scrolling down the article, you can see the many people weighing in and accusing Converse of doing this on purpose.
Did Converse do this on purpose? I would bet every penny in my bank account that they didn't. For them, it was probably just a normal ad with a normal message. "Buy Converse because this hot K-pop star likes them."
But now, Converse will likely be shaking in their Chuck Taylors whenever they make an ad because hidden in any of their footage could be another racist dog whistle. They're going to hire sensitivity specialists and associate with various groups to both avoid and prove they aren't racist and shouldn't be boycotted.
In other words, they're going to do what so many other corporations have done in the modern era to make sure they're looked at as one of the good guys by people who have no compunction about considering anyone else to be good people but themselves. Their moral superiority is what gives them the right to be both outraged at all times about others' supposed moral failings, and thus the license — nay, the duty — to be in charge of everything.
Have you ever wondered why everything feels so insubstantial? Not just our entertainment, but even our commercials, our video games, etc.?
It's because of this. It's corporations giving in to the outrage mob and accepting guilt they didn't have to.
Right now, my algorithm is obsessed with feeding me AI that harkens back to the 1980s and early 90s. This has also given way to showing me old commercials from that time, and I came across one from McDonald's. You've probably forgotten it, but once you see it, you'll wonder why you forgot it. It's wholesome, warm, and actually has a good message behind it.
What's the issue with this commercial? According to modern rules, myriad.
First, this promotes stranger danger. A small girl running up to an adult who isn't her parent? We can't promote this. Parents need to be helicopter parents, and the only people they should trust outside of themselves are the "professionals" running public schools and government officials. You know, the same ones pushing homosexual sex content and transgenderism on them.
Secondly, this promotes family values. The commercial doesn't mention McDonald's products one time; it's all sales through selling the value of familial importance and promoting its warmth. That might sound weird after having just covered the first reason, but a child cannot have the idea of home being the chief source of comfort and belonging.
Thirdly, and here the race baiters would come in, this girl is too adorable, middle-class, and white. There's no diversity in this, and thus it promotes the idea that McDonald's doesn't care about anyone but white people.
This singular commercial that was so normal in the 90s would be considered a source of mass controversy today. Yet, it's undeniably a great commercial. It's simple, heartwarming, and has good substance.
And you'll never see it like that again so long as these yahoos can infect the culture. You will endure slop and shallow nonsense that is "inoffensive" to the sentiments of the easily outraged.
Sad to think that normalcy feels alien, and it only took a couple of decades to be taken from us.
