GAP used to be the king of cool on television commercials with lively music tracks and slick choreography against clean white backgrounds. In a recent effort to convince folks that GAP is cool again, The GAP has released a new ad campaign titled “Born to fit” . But long gone are the dancing hipsters on white backgrounds. Print, theater and outdoor ads all drive consumers to a Born To Fit Facebook page. Facebook likes this because it may get folks who aren’t Facebook members to sign up. Gap likes this because they can trace how effective their ad campaign is by who is interacting with the site. I went ahead and clicked through their Facebook page and clicked on a tiny box that played a video of what I presumed was a GAP fashion designer who was sitting on a stool facing the camera. After sitting through the piece I discovered that the designer, Patrick Robinson, is “interested in things” and was “born to explore” . OK, I get that testimonials are good way to sell products, but what I didn’t understand was what the (insert expletive here) does that have to do with dungarees? I felt un-entertained. That is, until I scrolled down to read some of the comments posted by visitors to the branded Facebook page. They read as follows:
1. Gap Sucks.
2. Gap love you!!!!!!!!!!!!
3. Gay.
4. Very empowering.
5. I thought this was Todd Bridges.
I chuckled at number 5, so at least it wasn’t a complete waste of time. But maybe I’m not the target market for the brand. Perhaps they are targeting younger, willing-to-sit-through serious YouTube-like vids of people who want to wax on about life, or a person who likes to wear GAP jeans. It all seems so cerebral. I just want a pair of jeans that look good. Damn, I miss the dancing people on the white backgrounds throwing each other up in the air.
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