Aaarrrrgggghhh Gap ads are driving me mad.

October 1, 2001 10:32 AM

Aaarrrrgggghhh Gap ads are driving me mad. It's not that I don't like Gap clothes, although their sizing system defies logic. It's just those ads. Juliette Lewis and the robots, some woman I've never seen before declaring her love for Angus Young. It's all just so smug. Every single campaign Gap has done I've hated. Is this the feeling in the US?
posted by Summer (82 comments total)

er. i'm only bothered by the KidsGap ads -- there's something creepy about prepubescent girls and boys trying to look sultry.



my first love was to scratch (my eyes out).
posted by fishfucker at 10:37 AM on October 1, 2001

I'm just annoyed that Daft Punk not only sold their song but their entire... vibe to the GAP. Pretty annoying choice, but c'est la vie
posted by cell divide at 10:39 AM on October 1, 2001

ParisParamus' meaningless pontification du jour:

Gap clothing is getting crappier and crappier(sp?); more and more like Old Navy. Too bad.
posted by ParisParamus at 10:41 AM on October 1, 2001

Maybe I'm just a cynical American, but when I read a blurb like this in a publication like USA today, my first instinct is to see if members of Gap's board of directors are the same as USA Today's board of directors.
posted by bob bisquick at 10:43 AM on October 1, 2001

It's funny, there's a Gap on every high street yet I don't know anyone who shops there and I never see Gap clothing on anyone. But then, how would you know?
posted by Summer at 10:43 AM on October 1, 2001

I personally think that the Gap is going for MindShare through annoying ads. It's precisely their smugness that makes them stick in your mind. Their ads kind of strike me as funny, when they imply that shopping at the Gap makes you different and cool, when in the ad you have about 87 people all wearing the exact same orange vest and blue jeans.

For me the Gap is just a place to buy T-shirts, socks and underwear. If I want Levi's I go somewhere cheaper. And everything there looks pretty much the same as far as I'm concerned.

When you consider that the Gap owns Old Navy as well, the whole "annoying ad" thing certainly rings true. Nice to see the Jeffersons getting some work though. For my money you can't get enough Sherman Hemsley.

Fall into the Gap!
posted by Kafkaesque at 10:46 AM on October 1, 2001

i hated that scratch commercial. it depressed me so, for i am not a scratch dj, just the regular mixing kind. and, also, i only have one turntable, but let's not get too specific. sigh...... SIGH......................

as for daft punk, cell:

at least digital love isn't as cheezy as one more time, which was used in a victoria's secret commercial. i mean, digilove isn't a masterpiece, but it was pretty good. (except for that awful, awful guitar solo at the end, which i hated, and the remixes on the digilove LP all had it, thus i could not buy).
posted by moz at 10:47 AM on October 1, 2001

i buy some gap clothing. not a lot, mind you, since i'm not digging a lot of their clothing. sometimes i can find some nice things on sale, though. their line has seemed to falter lately, and is diving closer and closer to old navy every season. banana republic is nice, though.

the ads aren't that bad. they've had some pretty nice ad campaigns in the past. and with the push of 80's-inspired t-shirts they're currently pushing, i'm a bit surprised they haven't fallen back on those old "fall into the gap" commercials.
posted by mich9139 at 10:48 AM on October 1, 2001

Any woman who loves Angus is OK in my book :)
posted by UncleFes at 10:49 AM on October 1, 2001

Moz, I loved the guitar solo! it was the height of irony, i mean what would be more stupid than an effects-driven 80's style guitar solo at the end of a dance track? It's a guilty pleasure that just takes the lovable stupidity of the track to "11"
posted by cell divide at 10:51 AM on October 1, 2001

Hey, I'm not a big Gap guy myself, but I can admire their consistent ads over the years. No matter how wretched and reprehensible Gap/Old Navy ads are, they're always soldered into your cortex, even if it's for how wretched, reprehensible, and corny they are.

If that's what they're trying to do, I'd call whatever agency makes these ads ingenius.
posted by Fahrenheit at 10:56 AM on October 1, 2001

If you see consumerism and McWorld as the new religion, these gap and old navy ads are part of the program-it's diabolical how can they sell conforming as cool. I can't get 1984 out my head, it seems like it is all happening around us. GAP:Everyone in sweatshops.
posted by chrismc at 10:58 AM on October 1, 2001

cell:

i agree on the point of irony in the song. and by itself, that would be fine. but digilove was such an awesome track in the beginning, and it was something completely dancey, and something i would love to play live ... but that guitar solo, ironic though it was, prevents me. it needs to go. let me rephrase that: there needs to be a remix where it is gone.
posted by moz at 11:00 AM on October 1, 2001

I like how everyone here is holding up their hands and saying, "not me!"

We all shop at the Gap. It's okay. Get over it.
posted by jennak at 11:02 AM on October 1, 2001

I would love to see Old Navy's Advertising team shot in he head. I don't mind the gaps so much.

WHO IS that guitar chic anyway?
posted by Dome-O-Rama at 11:07 AM on October 1, 2001

We all shop at the Gap.

My Gap has "Eddie Bauer" on the outside of it.
posted by hijinx at 11:08 AM on October 1, 2001

Everytime I see a Gap ad, I think of Adbusters.
posted by Hexaemeron at 11:11 AM on October 1, 2001

i am not a scratch dj, just the regular mixing kind. and, also, i only have one turntable
posted by moz at 10:47 AM

Moz,

Offtopic, but much more interesting, how in hell are you ANY kind of DJ with only one turntable? Matter of fact, scratching can be done on only one turntable, mixing, by its very definition, can not.
posted by xochi at 11:17 AM on October 1, 2001

"Aaarrrrgggghhh Gap ads are driving me mad." (and the resulting MeFi discussion) == successful ad campaign
posted by bradlauster at 11:22 AM on October 1, 2001

I like how everyone here is holding up their hands and saying, "not me!"

We all shop at the Gap. It's okay. Get over it.

Who said that? We're talking about the ads aren't we?
posted by Kafkaesque at 11:22 AM on October 1, 2001

I really think highly of the Gap ads of the last few years (although I haven't seen the campaign you're referring to). The Christmas ads, and the Badly Drawn Boy/Low-soundtracked 'verts caught my attention in a positive way, as marketing is supposed to do. I don't much approve of the Gap brand, the stores, or the subversion of otherwise semi-credible indie music, but the ads are good.
posted by Marquis at 11:23 AM on October 1, 2001

xochi:

ah but i am a dj in spirit. actually i'm only one paycheck away from being a dj, as is my intention, but for now i have just the one turntable. and my aspirations are more towards mixing than scratching (or, more specifically, house vs. hip hop).
posted by moz at 11:25 AM on October 1, 2001

We all shop at the Gap.

I used to shop at the Gap, because it was easier than thinking. The only reason I wear clothes is that I am required to by law. I don't like to shop, and spending hours in the Gap's dressing rooms trying to force my perfectly normal, healthy body into clothes made for underendowed, hipless anorexics did not improve my attitude.

Then one day I realized that I could do my zombie-like clothes-buying bit somewhere else without having to think, which is why now most of my wardrobe needs are met at Abercrombie & Fitch. Why I feel better about shopping at one soulless, conformity-encouraging conglomerate than another I don't know, but I do.

As for the ads, I don't own a TV, so I don't know what they're up to these days, but it sounds like the Same Old Shite. Their new print ads are standard Gap Inc. fare. Interestingly, Daniel Clowes told Terry Gross that the Gap had approached him about appearing in one of their print ads, to which he responded with utter incredulity; he figured that no one at the Gap could make the connection between the attitudes of his characters and his own rejection/ridicule of Big Corporate pandering bullshit.
posted by pudders at 11:26 AM on October 1, 2001

Any add has to be better than the "Everybody in..." commercials or those Old Nave "You gotta get this look!' adds.

Yes, we all need to look just like everyone else!
posted by bondcliff at 11:31 AM on October 1, 2001

I like cute models dancing, and I like interesting songs, so I like Gap ads.

I shop there from time to time, and I agree with ParisParamus, their clothing line is becoming shittier with every new line they introduce.
posted by Witold at 11:36 AM on October 1, 2001

Actually, the whole idea of trying to push a "different" look is kind of peculiar. I mean, your goal must be to make lotsa dough. The only way to do this is to sell everybody and their brother your safety orange vest. If you succeed in selling everyone your safety orange vest, it is by definition not cool anymore because everyone has it. hmm.

Places like Urban Outfitters and NaNa's are the same. That bowling shirt or the T-Shirt with the monkey head is only cool when everyone else isn't wearing the same thing.

In the immortal words of Lou Reed "And me? I just don't care at all." And if you saw the way I usually dress, you'd know I'm not saying I'm cool for not caring, just that anything that fits and is relatively clean is fair game in my wardrobe.
posted by Kafkaesque at 11:44 AM on October 1, 2001

Don't get the ads where I live, so I checked out the website - aw no, please, surely they haven't suckered in DJ Spooky as well? Surely not the same DJ Spooky who told the Harvard Advocate that "...ours is a consumer world where we line up to receive what the system defines as being desirable.... that's what a lot of my work critiques: a sense of trying to create your own narrative in a world where we're forced to accept some Hollywood bullshit version of how we can live and think..."
posted by blue at 11:44 AM on October 1, 2001

The thing that's wrong with Gap commercials is that it's schizophrenic. The ads try to be hip, cool, un-ad like and sometimes it even generates "buzz" but their product is totally pedestrian.

Today's consumers are just too sophisticated as well as cynical to be sold this way anymore. Gap needs to "pay off" what their advertising promises other than tshirts, jeans and the occassional leather pants.
posted by slipperytoast at 11:44 AM on October 1, 2001

i have waited so long to see someone give props to Angus Young. the fact that it was a black woman pretending to play that SG while on a Gap ad makes me feel lots of different feelings.

only some of them are good.
posted by tsarfan at 11:45 AM on October 1, 2001

The current Gap ad with Carole King and her daughter singing didn't inspire me to buy Gap clothes, but it did inspire me to buy King's "Tapestry" on CD. And it got "So Far Away" stuck in my head for days.
posted by dnash at 11:46 AM on October 1, 2001

I can't believe that no one has mentioned Will Ferrell doing Neil Diamond. "Forever in blue jeans! Get it? I'm wearing blue jeans!" Sorry, that's just hysterical.

The Carole King ad also, I don't think I'd ever call her smug.
posted by eyeballkid at 11:51 AM on October 1, 2001

xochi:
ah but i am a dj in spirit. actually i'm only one paycheck away from being a dj, as is my intention, but for now i have just the one turntable. and my aspirations are more towards mixing than scratching (or, more specifically, house vs. hip hop).
posted by moz at 11:25 AM PST on October 1

Ah, well then. Good luck to you...of course I wish I could convince you to indulge in something more interesting than House music...say Drum 'n Bass? Trance? But to each his own.
posted by xochi at 11:53 AM on October 1, 2001

One good thing about the Gap commercials, they always let me know who I need to shun.
posted by emptyage at 11:55 AM on October 1, 2001

Gap needs to "pay off" what their advertising promises other than tshirts, jeans and the occassional leather pants.

That's just it, they can't. It's like buying an attitude or a life style so you can get the feeling but where is the reality. Like business casual or getting a tatoo that you can hide for job interviews, it is superficial only.
posted by chrismc at 11:55 AM on October 1, 2001

I can't believe that no one has mentioned Will Ferrell doing Neil Diamond.

I was actually just about to. That may be the best commercial on TV right now. "I wrote this song on the back of a Dixie cup."
posted by toddshot at 11:56 AM on October 1, 2001

Nobody has answered the right question yet.

Who is the Angus Young girl?!?

I've tried to look it up for weeks, but can't find anything. Anyone?
posted by Starchile at 11:59 AM on October 1, 2001

Actually, Starchile, the link that emptyage posted has the info you're looking for. Her name is Cherokee. That should be enough for a Google search.
posted by toddshot at 12:01 PM on October 1, 2001

Actually, Starchile, the link that emptyage posted has the info you're looking for. Her name is Cherokee. That should be enough for a Google search.
posted by toddshot at 12:04 PM on October 1, 2001

i just hope anyone who has read this far realizes that Gap, Old Navy, and Banana Republic are all branches of the same tree.
posted by whoshotwho at 12:04 PM on October 1, 2001

offtopic.

i think all styles of music are interesting, xochi. drum'n'bass, trance, and house. the question is how willing are you to dig around and find the really good stuff in the midst of all the drivel, the RAVE ON PARTY 2001 shit, the trance 4 u LP by whoshisface.

i will admit something. i live in chicago, the birthplace of house, and have access to an amazing amount of the musical style. in addition, i like going through older records of mine, and i have an easier time finding dancey music on those records which i could play in a house set. but, for the most part, i'm proud of house, and i've had an excellent time finding very sincere and honest house songs. i suppose that if i were living in new york, i might have an easier time finding some inspiring garage music, but i'm not and i don't.

you're right, though. to each his own. (sorry, not a big fan of drum'n'bass anyway. rapid percussion just doesn't do it for me, and in a genre for which that's a big chunk of the music... that won't do for me.)
posted by moz at 12:05 PM on October 1, 2001

A shirt I saw this weekend?

close the GAP
Everybody in sweatshops.

Naturally, it looked just like a GAP shirt (logo and everything), 'till you took a second look.
posted by arielmeadow at 12:06 PM on October 1, 2001

I shop there from time to time, and I agree with ParisParamus, their clothing line is becoming shittier with every new line they introduce.

The most annoying part of the trend is that stuff is getting letters and logos on it; this, I presume is aimed at teenagers, except I think teenagers don't want mass-produced "cool" (except, perhaps for tourists from abroad)

The Gap still has some good stuff; and their sales rack is very often wonderful. But they are definitely alienating a lot of customers.
posted by ParisParamus at 12:10 PM on October 1, 2001

and whoshotwho, not only are the three branches owned by the same company, but they're targeted market to sell *the same items* on a sliding scale. A black cotton T-shirt at old navy costs $10, the same shirt costs $13 at the Gap, and the 3rd identical shirt at Banana Republic costs $18. Hmmm, I love how Capitalism keeps the class system intact.
posted by abulafia at 12:12 PM on October 1, 2001

the Gap billboards in NYC drive me up the wall. They make me not want to run to the Gap but run to the nearest LA Diet center.
posted by Modem Ovary at 12:21 PM on October 1, 2001

"Everybody in sweatshops" how clever. and it looked like a GAP shirt! Oh bitter irony.

I love the gap ads. They totally rule. I especially like the new ones where they have lots of small, same-size photo bits of models wearing denim and stuff drawn from the same blue/grey color palette, and then the images are tiled in this big white grid. Looks cool.

A few weeks ago, though, the gaps around here switched to a similar thing, but with reds and browns, and the images aren't all square, they are various rectangles, but they still tile the larger grid. Looks rad.

I don't think I've seen the current batch of TV commercials, but I'm with the guy who said any girl who loves Angus Young is okay in my book. I liked all those Khaki's ones, and the "dress you up in my love". What's not to like?

That whole "ug, everyone goes there is so conformist, I buy all my clothes at Pete's Cheapeys, this ill vintage store" belongs in your notebook write underneath the poetry about how highschool for you is like a thunder storm.

(oh yeah, Abulafia, that's not how it's supposed to work. They are supposed to sell similar style clothing (broad appeal, fairly minimalist, simple design) to different markets, segmented by price: Old Navy is cheapest, then Gap, then Banana Republic. You pay more for better quality. I've shopped at all three. It's completely obvious that the products are completely different and generally better at Banana Republic than at Old Navy (ON, though, is rapidly getting better while keeping prices down). I don't know how anyone who has been to all three stores could ever think otherwise.)
posted by jeb at 12:24 PM on October 1, 2001

[Warning: self link] Article from WiredPlanet.com regarding use of electronic music in advertising: Beats For Sale.
posted by arielmeadow at 12:25 PM on October 1, 2001

Abulafia: Old Navy, Gap, and Banana do (often) sell similarly-styled clothes, but it rarely the same merchandise. Particularly in some core products (khakis, for example) the quality gulf between Old Navy and Banana can be sharp. (Part of the severe distress of Gap Inc. is the fact that the Gap store brand, which used to stand for a rather distinct style / value nexus, has become so fuzzy because of overlap both at the Banana fashion/quality end and the Old Navy teen/urban/bargain end.)

Although one might think that it makes sense for Gap Inc. to try to get $60 for the same pair of trousers they sell for $19.99 at Old Navy, consumers aren't quite that stupid ... and there's quite a nice profit return on making the merchandise distinctly higher in quality -- cost of goods for the $19.99 jeans is maybe $5 -- or $15 gross profit, whereas cost of goods for the $60 pants is maybe $10, so a $50 gross profit, or more than 3 times higher for merch that is at most 2 times better in terms of quality of make and materials.
posted by MattD at 12:25 PM on October 1, 2001

i will admit, however, that most of my wardrobe can be gotten in either old navy or structure. whether i'm conformist or not, i don't know; i like to think i'm not a clothes snob.
posted by moz at 12:37 PM on October 1, 2001

Here's one positive way of looking at it: advertising is some of the only mainstream media exposure electronic music is getting these days.

Thanks arielmeadow for your link, but I'm not sure that it makes me feel much better... can someone please explain to me how a politically aware, no-shit turntablist like DJ Spooky can on the one hand criticise consumer culture and then lend his name to The Gap, as per my previous post?
posted by blue at 12:40 PM on October 1, 2001

Mind the Gap.

It's not their ads per se, it's that there is no escape from them. I've given up on the Fox block of Futurama, King of the Hill and The Simpsons strictly because I can't deal with five or six Gap/Old Navy ads pumped at me every thirty minutes, kind of like when a yellowjacket stings you and you stomp on it, only to have ten other yellowjackets home in and attack you.

Oh yeah, am I the only one who thinks that model in those Old Navy miniskirt ads looks like a post op transexual male? He/She/It is a tad mannish for my tastes.

Let's face it, there is a difference between fashion and style.

People who slavishly follow fashion have no style.
posted by zeb vance at 12:51 PM on October 1, 2001

Gap bashing aside, what's a good commercial? Apple's totalitarianistic future first seen years ago at the superbowl? Budweiser's Whassup?
posted by bragadocchio at 1:21 PM on October 1, 2001

...what's a good commercial?

Maybe it's easier to define a good commercial by what it doesn't do: it doesn't try to sell an unattainable lifestyle, it doesn't make people look stupid or talk down to its audience, it isn't vicious or mean...
posted by blue at 1:39 PM on October 1, 2001

more and more like Old Navy. Too bad.

Hey I resemble that comment. I am just fine with plain yet colorful cotton v-necks of every denomination. Comfy, generic looking. CHEAP. I get MOST of my clothes from the markdown rack at Old Navy. It's cheaper than the thrift store, fer christ's sakes.
posted by glenwood at 1:42 PM on October 1, 2001

offtopic gap xmas carols. /offtopic

adverts show clothes off well...
boring clothes, eh.
posted by asok at 1:46 PM on October 1, 2001

The black, guitar-wielding Angus Young fan in the Gap ads is Cherokee, an R&B artist. See her page at CDNOW.com.

Someone also asked for the names of the people responsible for the Gap ad campaign. Here 'tis:

Gap Agency: Modernista!, Boston
Creative Directors: Gary Koepke, Lance Jensen
Art Director: Anthony Sperduti
Copywriter: Brian Lee Hughes
Agency Producer: Donaldson Leigh
Director: Paul Hunter
Print Photographer: Christian Witkin

The above information comes from an Adweek article that's available on Modernista's press site.

Okay, now that I've put those questions to rest for you guys, you can solve one for me:

Who is the leggy blonde in the "you gotta get this look" Old Navy ads? Mee-ow!!
posted by monkey-mind at 1:58 PM on October 1, 2001

I've been in a Gap once. Same for Old Navy. Never been to a Banana Republic. Protesting corporate homogeneity? Expressing my sense of style? No. Nothing there fits me. I searched the stores for something, anything (besides socks and underwear) that fit, even came close to fitting, my 6'5", 215# frame, and found nothing, nada, not a coat, a t-shirt, a pair of pants. Penny's has clothes that fit. Hell, Target and Wal-Mart have clothes that fit. Guess I'm a freak by Gap's standards.
Heh heh, theirs only, I'm sure.
posted by MrMoonPie at 1:59 PM on October 1, 2001

I love the GapKids ads where the boys and girls are whirling around showing off their kung-fu moves. The sheer athleticism and energy of the ad is exciting and, dare I saw, empowering. It doesn't make me want to buy their clothes (I wouldn't fit in to GapKids sizes anyway) but it's a refreshing take on marketing to kids.

And as for criticizing Daft Punk for allowing their songs to be used in ads - very likely the band had no control over that at all. Labels often own the publishing rights to songs. So blame them, unless you want to blame the band for signing a contract in the first place.

For monkey-mind: that woman is Molly Sims.
posted by mjane at 2:07 PM on October 1, 2001

the GAP billboard at 34th and 5th in NYC seems to have the most disturbing image on it:

Tricky.

WTF is Tricky (of all people) doing in a GAP ad? What was on his mind the day they took his picture. grrr.
posted by n9 at 2:29 PM on October 1, 2001

actually, I have to disagree about the fitting -- i like GAP because it is one of the few places that understands what it means to wear size small. i've grown to hate shopping for shirts as most clothing companies/designers/etc seem to be cutting them a size and a half too large. I'm not particularly scrawny either -- i just want a shirt that doesn't go down to my knees and billow out around my arms.

of course -- this doesn't mean they can't provide larger sizes as well.
posted by fishfucker at 2:31 PM on October 1, 2001

which is why now most of my wardrobe needs are met at Abercrombie & Fitch.

The only difference between those two stores is my paycheck gets more than one article of clothing at the gap.

(plus if I wear a&e I look like I'm constantly on my way to a dave mathews concert)
posted by justgary at 2:46 PM on October 1, 2001

that will ferrel gap ad cracks me up, that man has the funny.

i honestly have to say that the gap ads don't bother me much, i'm always looking forward to what they're going to do in terms of advertising, both television and print. my instructor for design studio designed the gap logo, so he's always filling us in on what's up with their campaigns. there's a gap billboard down sunset blvd. here in los angeles with marcia gay harden, very nice i think.

and really, i'll take a gap ad anytime over the blatantly homo-erotic images of abercrombie and fitch.
posted by soundslikequiet at 2:52 PM on October 1, 2001

xochie and moz -
support the economy by buying music from new york!
i am listening to 'cex' live in new york right now, it is pretty noisy so-called 'intelligent dance'.
next i shall listen to 'an american poem' by those guys, also on a new york label.
just trying to do my bit.
posted by asok at 3:20 PM on October 1, 2001

Their ads kind of strike me as funny, when they imply that shopping at the Gap makes you different and cool, when in the ad you have about 87 people all wearing the exact same orange vest and blue jeans.

They realized the same thing, which is why you only see one (or two at the most) people in each Gap ad now.
posted by sansenrisco at 3:21 PM on October 1, 2001

soundslikequiet: You say "blatantly homoerotic images" as if it's a bad thing. ;/) diss A&F for lots of things (sweatshop labor; conformist clothing), but please consider that some folks might not actually mind it for that.
posted by allaboutgeorge at 3:32 PM on October 1, 2001

I liked the Digital Love ad, the women looked like she was having a blast..
posted by Mossy at 3:57 PM on October 1, 2001

The only difference between those two stores is my paycheck gets more than one article of clothing at the gap.

The difference for me is that A&F's clothes actually fit me.

(plus if I wear a&e I look like I'm constantly on my way to a dave mathews concert)

I make everything I wear look pretty terrible. You'd never know I spent $60 on this sweater. It's a gift I have.

and really, i'll take a gap ad anytime over the blatantly homo-erotic images of abercrombie and fitch.

I'll take neither, thanks. Why can't they just put their name on the bag and keep those giant bare-chested B&W boys in the store windows? Sheesh.
posted by pudders at 4:44 PM on October 1, 2001

On Gap ads: Eh. All ads are pretty much annoying. Frankly I'm amazed it's generated a thread with this many posts.

On their clothes: I used to poo-poo the Gap Inc brands while secretly shopping there, until I took a good look at my wardrobe and realized that it consited of a lot more of their clothes that I thought. Personally, I think the best part about it is that you can't really tell where most of it comes from on the outside, unless you obessively make note of which stores sell what.

Forgive me.
posted by Hackworth at 5:03 PM on October 1, 2001

. . . can someone please explain to me how a politically aware, no-shit turntablist like DJ Spooky can on the one hand criticise consumer culture and then lend his name to The Gap, as per my previous post?

I don't know the guy's politics, but I'd guess rationalization. Hypocrisy. Large sums of money. The usual.

Obligatory Gap comments: The workers are jerks (YMMV), the clothing is the style equivalent of day-old plain oatmeal, and I absolutely refuse to go to malls. If I want to drop money on nice clothing, I'll either go totally upscale shopping or (preferably) have it tailored. Until then it's guyaberas, cowboy boots, and Levis from non-mall sources.
posted by estopped at 5:11 PM on October 1, 2001

Ugh, the Gap ad that I hate the most is that one with Will Ferrell. I'll be half-watching TV when all of a sudden I see a Gap commercial with Will Ferrell in it and think it's an SNL commercial. But the punch line never comes.

Gap bashing aside, what's a good commercial? Apple's totalitarianistic future first seen years ago at the superbowl? Budweiser's Whassup?

I think commercials are really getting pretty good now. It just seems like more thought was put into each one, and companies are starting to realize that humor's usually the best way to go. I like the Sprite commercials (need a skateboard, need a CD player) best
posted by Laugh_track at 5:16 PM on October 1, 2001

A black cotton T-shirt at old navy costs $10, the same shirt costs $13 at the Gap, and the 3rd identical shirt at Banana Republic costs $18...

Old Navy, Gap, and Banana do (often) sell similarly-styled clothes, but it rarely the same merchandise. Particularly in some core products (khakis, for example) the quality gulf between Old Navy and Banana can be sharp.

"Your selection may have less to do with your fashion sense than your sense of self."
posted by holgate at 6:06 PM on October 1, 2001

Old Navy just started opening up stores in the Toronto area, and while their prices are pretty good, I like that they actually have colourful clothes! They are multiplying like mad so I guess other people like 'em too.

Gap stuff always seems so washed out to me. They feel so generic. Which is hypocritical cuz I like Old Navy. Maybe I'm just bitter cuz I'm too womanly to wear Gap stuff. At least Old Navy sells stuff that fits me.

I don't like that 3/4 of the clothes have the brand name all over them.
posted by melissa at 6:22 PM on October 1, 2001

I'll be half-watching TV when all of a sudden I see a Gap commercial with Will Ferrell in it and think it's an SNL commercial. But the punch line never comes.

Kind of like SNL.
posted by edlundart at 9:22 PM on October 1, 2001

I like my tee-shirts (black, size M) to come out of a little plastic baggie, so I know they're fresh.

Wal-Mart, Fruit of the Loom, 6.99.

I can't begin to imagine what sort of ego deficiency drives one to give it any more thought than that.

Will Farrell lost my respect by acquiescing to Lorne Greene's command to cease making fun of Dubya.
War or no, the man is still a jackass.
posted by dong_resin at 9:49 PM on October 1, 2001

gap commercials damn-near ruined my love for laura prepon (the red-head from that 70s show.). thank God i've seen it only once. it wasn't so much that it was a Gap commercial, it was the silly goose dance that she did. i needed someone to blame, and i didn't have the heart to blame laura.

i got a VERY nice Banana Republic trenchcoat the other day for 40$. pretty much any coat/jacket under $50 is a good deal for me.. not a big fan of the Gap stores at malls, but Gap outlets have some ridiculously low low prices.

the gap commercial with Run DMC wasn't too bad... however, there were those LL Cool J and Missy Elliot commercials.
posted by lotsofno at 9:57 PM on October 1, 2001

THOUGHT: right or wrong, GAP ads are exactly the kind of mindless materialism celebrated here in the USA that makes Osama & friends only want to kill more Americans.
posted by blackholebrain at 10:15 PM on October 1, 2001

Actual link to Gap TV ads.

Gee, I've been growing up with the Gap all my life, near the one on the corner of Haight/Ashbury, so I've never really had that big a problem with the place. I've bought clothes at the Gap, mostly because they carry my size, and carry general styles that are appropriate for my job that don't cost me a whole lot. And this season's "Gap color pallette" isn't too ugly—they've toned down the "dork" look.

Saying that you'd rather shop at Abercrombie & Finch or WalMart is like saying you'd rather drink Coke because Pepsi has totally sold out. It's ALL mall culture—all of it. Gap just happens to hit a nerve in the public at large.

And unless you've sewn together your entire wardrobe, you can't argue that your clothing, from materials to stitching to inspection, wasn't from some sweatshop somewhere. ...You just have to decide that either that clothing labels are making fair labor decisions or are all lying to you.

Yes, it's advertising. All advertising makes me sick, but it's there whether we like it or not, and it keeps TV/radio/magazines cheap (for the most part). You can always hit the mute button, or the Forward button on your TiVo. Some ads are a bit more clever or more memorable than others, and I have to admit, the ads for Gap are clean, simple, and certainly consumer savvy. Can you really blame them for being successful?

Hate on the Gap all you want—it's not going anywhere.
posted by Down10 at 11:33 PM on October 1, 2001

mostly all I wear is hand-me-downs. the rest are random thrift shop scavenges or hand-made. name brand clothing always struck me as a kind of a silly prospect. for the price one might pay for a shirt "wearable" for one or two seasons is more than enough to clothe me for a year.

but anyways, one thing really confusing to me about fashion lately is all the clothing trying to create the illusion of age. can you honestly wear a pair of prefaded jeans, a preweathered belt buckle, and/or studded t-shirt and say with a straight face that you are not a tool?
posted by mcsweetie at 12:06 AM on October 2, 2001

Will Farrell lost my respect by acquiescing to Lorne Greene's command to cease making fun of Dubya. War or no, the man is still a jackass.

[Battlestar Galactica]...by your command... And what right-thinking comedian wouldn't acquiesce to Commander Adama? [/Battlestar Galactica]

I believe it's Lorne Michaels in command of Saturday Night Live.
posted by JDC8 at 1:28 AM on October 2, 2001

Yeesh..... yer right..... there's a freudian slip.
I just nerded into sheer hypernerd.


God, I need a woman.
posted by dong_resin at 1:47 AM on October 2, 2001

The fact that I've never been inside a Gap shop, or worn a piece of their sweatshop-sewn gear is an symptom of the fact that :

a) I'm cooler than tits on a hovercraft.
b) I'm a big butthead with the fashion sense of a dead lemur.
c) I use the first person singular way too much.
d) All of the above.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 2:06 AM on October 2, 2001

Not that "SNL" couldn't benefit from a few, well-placed Cylons.
posted by allaboutgeorge at 2:10 AM on October 2, 2001

What makes a good advert? One that drums up 82 comments about it!! ;-)
posted by snowgoon at 4:43 AM on October 2, 2001