Y’all have maybe ran across this stuff yourself, but in case you didn’t…
First, politics ::groan:: 😮💨
Converse recently pulled a campaign featuring K-pop star Karina of aespa after widespread criticism that some of the imagery evoked the Ku Klux Klan and lynching. In one image, Karina is wearing a white skirt while a star-shaped light creates a pointed shape on the skirt that critics compared to a KKK hood.
There was also another Converse Malaysia image in the broader campaign showing people using a ladder to reach shoes hanging from a tree. That image intensified the criticism because of the historical association of Black Americans being lynched from trees.
Converse apologized and said it was removing the imagery.
Of course, there’s a distinction between intent and outcome.
Converse makes money by selling product. Do people really think they would set out to create marketing that would deliberately alienate a major segment of potential customers? Nope, so it’s the OUTCOME that matters.
We also know that there is a real economic incentive in today’s media environment to turn controversy into attention—outrage generates clicks, comments, shares, and engagement, and engagement can generate revenue. Social media can make a relatively small reaction look enormous. And some people out there just look for something to get butt hurt about.
And for the next topic that is also controversial…
Scroll down to see the photo below and then close your eyes. When you open them, squint hard, look at the photo again, and tell me what you see…
Now you know: The first product scanned with a UPC barcode was a 10-pack of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit gum in an Ohio supermarket in 1974.