Former Converse marketer received threats over ad scandal
Former Converse CMO Rodney Rambo received death threats over an ad featuring Karina, even though he had left the company back in January — months before the campaign launched.
Former Converse CMO Rodney Rambo (Rodney Rambo) received death threats over an advertising campaign he had nothing to do with. This was reported by Adweek.
The threats began arriving on Rambo's phone on Friday morning. By that point, he had not worked at the company for almost three months: Rambo left the CMO position at Converse in January.
The scandal erupted over an advertising image featuring K-pop star Karina (Karina). In the poster, the artist, wearing a white skirt, holds a pair of sneakers from the new Chuck 70 X model. The lighting of the shot reminded some social media users of the aesthetics of the Ku Klux Klan — it was this comparison that made the ad go viral.
Rambo saw the controversial image in the evening of the day it was published, when it was already spreading across social media. However, part of the audience apparently was not interested in who was actually responsible for the campaign: the former executive became the target of aggressive messages.
"You should be disgusted that this ad was approved at all," one LinkedIn user wrote to Rambo. Adweek recorded several similar comments directed at the former marketer.
The situation with Rambo illustrates how quickly a direction of anger forms on social media — and how inaccurate it can be. Users outraged by the visual decision of the campaign addressed their grievances to a person who was neither involved in creating nor approving the poster.
For Converse itself, the incident resulted in widespread online condemnation. The ad with Karina, designed to promote the new version of the iconic Chuck 70 X model, became the subject of debates about the acceptability of visual techniques that evoke associations with extremist symbolism.
The story also illustrates the risks faced by brand executives after leaving a company: their names continue to be associated with products and decisions made without their participation. Rambo left Converse in January — several months before the campaign launched — but this did not protect him from direct threats.
The company's comments regarding the incident and threats against the former employee are not provided in the material.
Source: Adweek
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