Gap print ad - "My first love: The Smiths"
posted by davidt on Thursday August 02 2001, @09:00AM

Soto writes:

I know this is trivial but worth mentioning as it is part of a Gap advertisement and is in a reputable magazine.

In the latest (September) edition of Men's Health Magazine (several pages from the cover) is an advertisement for The Gap in which a man is standing against a white wall. The caption to the left of him reads "my first love: the smiths".

Is it me or is the Smiths' name getting more and more commercially popular these days? Either way I don't mind.

---
Scan of the ad: page 1, page 2

 
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    Gap print ad - "My first love: The Smiths" | Log in/Create an Account | Top | 140 comments | Search Discussion
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    The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
    Great AD! (Score:1)
    I hate the GAP but this is a great Advertisement.
    This is what I pictured Smiths fans to look like when I was younger....a great representation of our subculture.
    SOUTHPAWmuse -- Thursday August 02 2001, @09:14AM (#16033)
    (User #3123 Info)
    Southwest six with someone like you, keep thieves hours with someone like you...
    • Re:Great AD! by Anonymous (Score:0) Saturday August 04 2001, @08:34PM
      I guess I saw that pic before... (Score:1)
      Is it me or the first scan is reminiscent of "The Boy Racer" single cover photo?
      charles byron <{boy_afraid} {at} {hotmail.com}> -- Thursday August 02 2001, @09:28AM (#16035)
      (User #49 Info | http://profiles.yahoo.com/byron_james )
      the first time that she came to my house, she bought Chardonnay, now I buy Chardonnay, almost every day!
      Christ, that bloke is sexy! (Score:1)
      Call me a vacuous, sex-obsessed girl but that bloke made my toes curl. Smiths fans never looked like that!
      MyMelody -- Thursday August 02 2001, @10:28AM (#16045)
      (User #2329 Info)
      ...don't make fun of me later... cos I'm just lost...
      Gap Sucks (Score:0)
      As a Smith's fan, I find this ad to be utterly insulting. Mainly, the Gap uses child labor in order to make their cloths. And by tagging the Smiths to it is wrong!!! I for one am proud to say I havn't shopped there for years. Thank you Rage Against the Machine for bringing this to my attention.
      Anonymous -- Thursday August 02 2001, @10:31AM (#16046)
      awww (Score:1)
      love the add!
      SleepTheClockAround -- Thursday August 02 2001, @10:41AM (#16047)
      (User #3329 Info)
      • Re:awww by Anonymous (Score:0) Saturday August 04 2001, @10:22AM
        • Re:awww by SleepTheClockAround (Score:1) Saturday August 04 2001, @08:42PM
        Does this make me cool then? (Score:1)
        I loved the ad. But, does this mean being a fan of the group is now cool? It's been long overdue if that's the case.

        "...ahh, I've always known I was the cool kid, and now I know I was right.

        Oh, the satisfaction, the pride..."

        Ah-hem, maybe not.
        swallow_on_my_neck <United Kingdom.> -- Thursday August 02 2001, @11:09AM (#16053)
        (User #2115 Info)
          The Crap (Score:1)
          Gap clothes are awful. Cheaply manufactured, poor quality, tasteless style. Any wonder Gap is so close in spelling to Crap? Even their higher end Banana Republic clothes, although a bit more stylish, are also poorly made.

          I'm not sure I like The Smiths name being tied in with The Gap. I wouldn't complain if it were a Prada or Gucci ad...that would make more sense.
          Earl Graphite <earlgraphite@aol.com> -- Thursday August 02 2001, @12:54PM (#16060)
          (User #2253 Info)
          Speaking your mind gets you in trouble every time.
          • Re:The Crap by Anonymous (Score:0) Saturday August 04 2001, @10:24AM
            I don't know... (Score:1)
            I think it's silly.

            How can you tell who is a Smiths fan and who is not? Is he supposed to represent what a male Morrissey/Smiths fan looks like?

            A few years back, I think it was the Gap who put out an advertisment with James Dean on the front saying : James Dean wore Khakis

            Well, big deal. And, he certainly didn't get them from The Gap...

            I guess it's good that The Smiths are being remembered and their name displayed like that, but that particular add was just, in my opinion, silly.
            hand in glove -- Thursday August 02 2001, @01:01PM (#16062)
            (User #827 Info)
            Art is the tree of life. Science is the tree of death. - William Blake
            denim delinquents unite and take over (Score:1)
            does this mean they are now trying to copyright Morrissey's style?! I have mixed feelings about the ad, it's always good to have his name out there for people to see, but it all depends on how it is done, and by who, of course. At least the guy had a nice haircut. But the shoes have to go.
            Violeta -- Thursday August 02 2001, @03:35PM (#16075)
            (User #1820 Info)
            swivel and sway
            Gap Girls (Score:0)
            I will now take even more pleasure in watching those old skits on Saturday Night Live of the "Gap Girls".

            Gee, I wonder if they've asked Morrissey to do a tv ad like they've done with those sell-out whores like Aerosmith and Lenny Kravitz.
            Anonymous -- Thursday August 02 2001, @04:44PM (#16080)
              I bet (Score:1, Funny)
              I bet that Tibby runs out and buys that Gap outfit now.
              Anonymous -- Thursday August 02 2001, @05:54PM (#16086)
              Gap Ad (Score:1)
              A-this boy is beautiful. truly
              b-I severly doubt he is the voice behind "My first love: the smiths" it IS the voice of the gawky, a nation-turns-its-bac-and-gags copywriter.
              c-Smiths fans that ive seen are rarely this beautfiul
              d-he looks like in 1985 he was more into Howard Jones
              XX
              a Maladjusted Copywriter Himself
              I Know Very Well... -- Friday August 03 2001, @08:39AM (#16125)
              (User #3130 Info)
              I Know Very Well...
                i mind (Score:1)
                i mind..cos the one great thing about the smiths and their fans is that we're in a little underground cult, if they become pop like COLDPLAY or OASIS or something like that...it just takes the essense away from the whole thing, don't you think?
                nyxstar* -- Friday August 03 2001, @09:20AM (#16132)
                (User #2516 Info)
                "no great artist ever sees things as they really are. if he did, he would cease to be an artist"--O.W.
                • Re:i mind by hand in glove (Score:1) Friday August 03 2001, @09:34AM
                  • Re:i mind by Anonymous (Score:0) Saturday August 04 2001, @12:40AM
                  unrelated (Score:1)
                  hey has anyone checked out the moz-solo guestbook lately? its getting pretty scary!
                  SOUTHPAWmuse -- Friday August 03 2001, @10:43AM (#16140)
                  (User #3123 Info)
                  Southwest six with someone like you, keep thieves hours with someone like you...
                    Ummm.... (Score:1)
                    Gentle Jesus!
                    gonna vom...

                    Nautiously,
                    DeB of the West Sider Riders
                    Maplefreak -- Friday August 03 2001, @11:03AM (#16142)
                    (User #1234 Info)
                    And the songs we sing, they're not supposed to mean a thing...
                      I didn't realize we were a desirable demographic (Score:1)
                      What I want to know is how the ad company sold this idea to the Gap. The Smiths are a pretty underground taste. The phrase "First love: the Smiths" is probably very apt for many us, though.

                      I also want to know why Morissey wasn't featured in Apple's "Think different" campaign.
                      Bertrand -- Friday August 03 2001, @03:26PM (#16149)
                      (User #134 Info)
                      Queer Chic or Fashionably Late? (Score:1)
                      I have no earthshattering insights about this article although I am amused and tickled pink at this marketing tactic. The GAP targets the 30 something alterna-yuppie demographic ie white, middle-class, heterosexual people who hang-out at coffee shoppes and listen to 80s music. Therefore, why not feature a topless, brooding soft-boy professing his love for The Smiths? However, I urge you all to 'read' this ad carefully. What is the subtext? If you say 'homoerotic' I would not guffaw. Queer chic as perpetuated by the straight community (in this case the GAP corporation) is not uncommon in fashion ad campaigns. My only regret is that they did not feature Morrissey himself, leaning against a Mercedes and holding a cell phone. Whatever happened to indie-boys who shop at the Goodwill? Oh, the irony!
                      Lady Emma Peel -- Friday August 03 2001, @05:35PM (#16154)
                      (User #2400 Info | http://www.heartlessbitches.com )
                      "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night!" Bette Davis
                      My God (Score:1)
                      Is this what we have become?
                      MozTroll -- Saturday August 04 2001, @08:13AM (#16176)
                      (User #3342 Info)
                        Someone please, call the fashion police! (Score:1)
                        This is truly criminal.
                        haze <gallondrunk@hotmail.com> -- Saturday August 04 2001, @08:39AM (#16179)
                        (User #1115 Info)
                        I don't want to die before I learn how to live...
                          Smiths fans are more beautiful (Score:0)
                          You know...people keep on talking about how good looking this model is...but I just can't agree. I have seen MANY Morrissey and Smiths fans who are MUCH better looking. There was one fellow at the Coachella Music Festival(whom I had the privilege of standing next to for the majority of Morrissey's set) that was probably the most beautiful person I have ever seen. He fit the style more, too. Anyhow...this model looks just like the rest of them, and it makes me ill to see him standing next to those wonderul words.
                          Anonymous -- Saturday August 04 2001, @09:00PM (#16208)
                            strikingly enough (Score:1)
                            that guy kind of looks like Gary Day forget the gap it's all about the thrift stores!
                            leedoggpimp <leedoggpimp@hotmail.com> -- Sunday August 05 2001, @01:41PM (#16249)
                            (User #2789 Info | http://www.morrisseymusic.com/ )
                            True friends stab you in the front.
                            • thrift saavy by *_Lilla Molntuss_* (Score:1) Monday August 06 2001, @01:31AM
                              gap featuring the smiths (Score:0)
                              i work at the gap an the reason for the poster is because on the tape that is played in the store has a cover version of "this charming man" can't think of the ban at this time. visit me in west covina gap
                              Anonymous -- Sunday August 05 2001, @09:25PM (#16270)
                              I'm going to buy cargo pants... (Score:0)
                              a ribbed T, khakis, and everything else the GAP has right now! Woohoo! Go Smiths! Go Gap! *sarcasm*

                              BTW, what's wrong with looking like that? My friends and I all look like that. Are we therefore not allowed to like The Smiths? Also, it states his first love was the Smiths. He could very easily be over them by now. Maybe he now a huge fan of Ween, Phish, or the Utah Saints now and doesn't like the Smiths anymore. He's only reminicing about once loving the Smiths.
                              Anonymous -- Monday August 06 2001, @07:13AM (#16285)
                                gap and sweat (Score:1)
                                i think its a shame that gap are using the smith's to sell cloathes. all those sweaty people working their fingers to the bone certainly wouldn't say the smiths were their first love. johnny marr might sympathise, he used to sell cloathes didn't he?
                                snakeboy -- Tuesday August 07 2001, @04:26AM (#16393)
                                (User #2822 Info)
                                  makes me wanna throw up (Score:0)
                                  Does a smiths fan have to look a particular way??.....the gap is everything the smiths aint and vica versa.....i hope this is the last time i see the Smiths in connection with the Gap....and A&F and all the rest...
                                  Anonymous -- Tuesday August 07 2001, @11:28AM (#16427)
                                    The Gap (Score:1)
                                    I'm aghast at this ad being used in associate with The Smiths' name. For quite a few years now The Gap (and the local socialite President, Don Fisher)has become very unpopular around San Francisco, and the Bay Area for being environmentally repulsive. Many a redwood tree has suffered at the greedy hands of The Gap.
                                    J. Razor -- Tuesday August 07 2001, @03:45PM (#16437)
                                    (User #724 Info)
                                    I'm Alone
                                      until the fools get wise (Score:0)
                                      so what we have is a male model, who's first love was the Smiths. let's not get our panties in a bunch bout it. Moz & Co are not the sole property of the arseholes that visit this site ya know. Consequently, i wore my 10 year old (highly fashionable) Queen Is Dead t-shirt out today, and got two compliments from complete strangers. true Smiths fans? Why should i give a shit? i'm just glad that people still care. If gap wants to give our beloved the exposure he and they STILL deserve then good. As embarrasing as it may be, i was introduced to Kerouac through a gap ad so many years ago. i'll never learn.

                                      ideal
                                      Anonymous -- Saturday August 11 2001, @12:36AM (#16642)
                                        Gay! Gay! Gay! (Score:0)
                                        Hullo? The Gap office in San Francisco advertising in Men's Health (the premiere closet gay magazine in the country!) with a pretty model talking about The Smiths (ie. Morrissey) as his first LOVE? This campaign is so obviously for the gay population. Morrissey is a gay icon, and is being exploited for it. Would they use a Smiths mention in Rolling Stone or SPIN or Playboy? I highly doubt it. Morrissey is a hypocrite and liar anyway, saying he was celibate and that he wasn't gay. Everyone know he used to boink his hairdresser during the days of the Smiths, and don't forget Jake. Morrissey is an arsehole for fooling all the hetero boys to be involved with strictly gay obsessions. Fate has a way of karma, and his present situation is one that he solely put himself into. His music sucks now and his lyrics are worse, why would anyone still want his music? He should just craw back into the hole he crawled out from in Manchester and leave pretty, happy, sunny LA to those that deserve it.
                                        Anonymous -- Saturday August 11 2001, @07:17PM (#16663)
                                        file under 'isn', that joke' (Score:0)
                                        as vivienne westwoood said its 'gap between the ears' and not funny anymore
                                        Anonymous -- Wednesday October 31 2001, @04:47PM (#20932)


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