#greenscreen This Converse ad is disgusting to a lot of people in the Black community — and the bigger problem is that this is NOT the first time a major company has released imagery that should have raised red flags long before the public ever saw it. Look at the image. The pointed white shape, the dark shoes hanging from a hand, and the overall composition immediately reminded many viewers of some of the ugliest racist imagery in American history. Whether Converse intended that message or somebody in the creative process was simply unbelievably tone-deaf, the question still needs to be asked: HOW DID THIS GET APPROVED? And Converse isn't alone. H&M once put a Black child in a sweatshirt that read “Coolest Monkey in the Jungle.” After massive backlash, the company apologized and removed it. Dove released an ad showing a Black woman appearing to transform into a white woman after using its product. People immediately connected it to the long racist history of advertisements suggesting darker skin was somehow dirty or undesirable. Dove apologized and pulled the ad. Gucci sold a black sweater that covered the face with an opening surrounded by exaggerated red lips. People said it resembled blackface imagery, and Gucci eventually removed it and apologized. At some point, companies have to stop hiding behind “we didn't mean it that way.” These aren't tiny businesses operating out of somebody's basement. These are corporations with advertising agencies, executives, legal departments, marketing teams, focus groups, photographers, designers, editors and millions of dollars behind their campaigns. So how does nobody in the room say: “Wait a minute… do y'all see what this looks like?” Black people shouldn't have to repeatedly explain why imagery connected to lynching, blackface, monkeys, white supremacy and centuries of racial humiliation isn't funny, edgy or creative. Maybe the intention wasn't racist. But when the same kind of controversy keeps happening across billion-dollar companies, people have every right to question how something this insensitive keeps making it through the approval process. What do YOU see when you look at this Converse advertisement? Coincidence? Carelessness? Or something advertisers knew would create controversy? #Converse #BlackCommunity #RacismInAdvertising #BlackHistory - @therealfoolishness