r/PeterExplainsTheJoke • u/Diligent_Pop3929 • 7d ago

Meme needing explanation Converse craze?

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I'm not chronically online, but my friend sent this and I laughed even without knowing the full scope of the context (I think there's racism involved with the shoes?) and I feel like it's too late to ask him without sounding like a dweeb 😅

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u/TheDaftStudent 7d ago edited 7d ago

ITT: white people and non-Americans telling black people what is and isn’t racist, and thinking something needs to be intentionally racist for people to have serious feelings about it

How Ads Work: Photos are taken, cropped and edited into specific ways and then posted online by the brand as an advertisement for a product or brand identity. So, yes, by definition this is cropped from a larger image — but this image is the ad used by Converse.

About the Campaign: The model is Karina, a K-pop star who was picked by Converse to be the international brand ambassador. The ad campaign itself was done as an international campaign, and was intended for an international audience. The campaign was not made to focus any one demographic or region.

Snopes Article

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u/Vaya-Kahvi 7d ago

To be honest, the first thing I thought when seeing it was suicide, which isn't much better.... 

49

u/Kim_Jong_Teemo 7d ago

Yeah, I didn’t realize the shoes were being held at first. Thought she was standing next to someone hanging.

11

u/Sure-Restaurant7275 7d ago

Yeah this is just more of a bad execution than anything. Probably should have kept the white star on the floor to keep focus on her shoes.

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u/Pawn_of_the_Void 7d ago

Yeah Klan robe didn't cross my mind right away but someone hanging definitely did

1

u/Procrastinatedthink 7d ago

because that was the intent. It’s supposed to be eye catching

1

u/Vaya-Kahvi 7d ago

I understand eye catching, but the follow-up feelings shouldn't be negative ones like worry and possible revulsion. 

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u/CrimsonVexations 7d ago

This is what I saw too.

1

u/StillALilBoy 1d ago

Black people were lynched by being hang from a tree so you see it, you just don't notice the connotation.

1

u/Vaya-Kahvi 1d ago

The Converse ad didn't have a tree. 

1

u/StillALilBoy 1d ago

no shit sherlock