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My first love: "The Smiths" - Gap ad explained (insider info)
posted by davidt on Wednesday August 08 2001, @08:00AM

 Grant writes:

In hopes to dispel all those "nasty rumors" of the evil Gap Inc. monster trying to be clever with thier upcoming ad campaign, I offer an insider view on the subject. I work for Gap in the San Francisco headquarters and the following was posted today on our company's web-page:
“Getting Personal”
(excerpt from Gap Web – Gap Inc.’s internal web-page)

"Forget the monolithic marketing messages about what to wear this fall. For Gap, it's all about personal style. "We want to inspire our customers to find their look, their style through Gap."

Illustrating this new direction is "My First Love," Gap's fall advertising campaign, which features emerging celebrities and models calling out their first loves."...
-So it seems that the (handsome) gentleman in the recent ads is speaking for himself...something I find quite relieving.

 
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    My first love: "The Smiths" - Gap ad explained (insider info) | Log in/Create an Account | Top | 57 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.
    His second love was money, presumably (Score:1)
    What with selling his body and identity to be another slave to GAP. Like they don't have enough.
    austere -- Wednesday August 08 2001, @08:51AM (#16470)
    (User #103 Info)
    Aww, put this in your GAP (Score:2, Funny)
    I want to be next.

    My first love:

                              PORN

    Yeah, me just standing there with the stupidest of smiles...
    giant -- Wednesday August 08 2001, @09:05AM (#16476)
    (User #430 Info)
     I Like You
      Useless... (Score:0)
      ...and unless I am mistaken, the agency doing the ads is Modernista, the same group that brought us those innovative Volkswagen ads (featuring songs by Nick Drake, Spiritualized, et al) as well as those horrifying MTV print ads that 'spoof' HIV.

      God, I'm dull.
      Anonymous -- Wednesday August 08 2001, @09:58AM (#16480)
      • Re:Useless... by Xhris (Score:1) Wednesday August 08 2001, @10:16AM
        • Re:Useless... by Anonymous (Score:0) Wednesday August 08 2001, @10:37AM
          • Re:Useless... by Anonymous (Score:0) Wednesday August 08 2001, @11:29AM
            • Re:Useless... by Xhris (Score:1) Wednesday August 08 2001, @03:31PM
            • Re:Useless... by Anonymous (Score:0) Friday August 10 2001, @11:37AM
            • Re:Useless... by Anonymous (Score:0) Wednesday August 08 2001, @10:31PM
              • Re:Useless... by Kruzifixia Avenue (Score:1) Friday August 10 2001, @08:16AM
                • Re:Useless... by Anonymous (Score:0) Friday August 10 2001, @11:42AM
                no wonder! (Score:0)
                why he looked familiar. i saw him at the morrissey show in oaxaca.
                Anonymous -- Wednesday August 08 2001, @10:24AM (#16485)
                • Re:no wonder! by Anonymous (Score:0) Friday August 10 2001, @09:06AM
                  Doublethink? I'd settle for Singlethink. (Score:1)
                  Is it even necessary to cyncially joke about the mass marketing of "individuality"?
                  jeremy -- Wednesday August 08 2001, @10:39AM (#16490)
                  (User #1757 Info)
                    Grant, I think you missed the point (Score:0)
                    I believe people here felt Gap to be an "evil monster" not because of the new ad campaign, but rather because of the slave labor used by Gap. The exploitation of under-paid workers in 3rd world countries is what most consider evil. Funny how you didn't even touch that!
                    Anonymous -- Wednesday August 08 2001, @11:43AM (#16501)
                    • Re:Grant, I think you missed the point by Anonymous (Score:0) Wednesday August 08 2001, @10:10PM
                      • Re:Grant, I think you missed the point (Score:2, Insightful)
                      Yup. And for your bonus question: when Nike/Gap supplying factories have closed down, how did the workers feed their families.
                      Crappy though working conditions are in South Asian sweatshops - and even though many of these regimes outrageously abuse human rights - Gap/Nike supplier style businesses are the first step that developing economies have, because the workforces don't have anything else to sell but cheap labour. Look at countries which were doing this sort of thing 50 years ago and you'll see how working conditions like these die out as the economies and the infrastructure that supports them develop. That's the way forward for these countries: not piecemeal consumer boycotts which leave workers whose lot is pretty awful anyhow, unemployed and starving.

                      Erm.

                      Morrissey ROOLS!! (or something)
                      David T (different) -- Thursday August 09 2001, @03:17AM (#16540)
                      (User #256 Info)
                       david_t[at]boltblue.com
                      [ Parent ]
                        Re:Grant, I think you missed the point (Score:2, Informative)
                        Sorry all...but I must say something in response, to the slave labor talk, as usual.

                        In nations where human rights are not taken seriously, and a human life is worth less than the bullet it takes to kill a person, labor conditions will not improve with the economy. Studying the history of people and nations, I know these things. The few people who do get a better chance at life get so because of people from outside who work hard with organizations like Amnesty International and UNICEF action groups to bring the younger 'useless slaves' an education and a chance to work some place that does not chain you to a machine for sixteen hours a day where you will make clothing, or shoes, or other consumer goods. Even if we buy the things these people make, they still have a terrible life. And buying things does not guarantee that these people will have food on the table, or a roof over their head. In some cases, people must all crowd together, several families at a time, in a makeshift home half the size of a single family apartment in the US.

                        Not all factories in nations where cheap labor exists are completely disgusting and cruel like The Gap, Nike, Old Navy, etc. IKEA, for instance, uses labor from Indonesia and other such nations, but they work with UNICEF to provide the children of the adult factory workers a good education. They also don't have the nasty habits that many factories do. Workers get paid a more fair wage, get some sort of healthcare options, and are not viewed as a cheap piece of nothing. Some people in high corporate places care about more than just a profit.

                        I do not mean to attack anyone who buys from The Gap, or any such thing. Attacking the average Joe is no way to get a message across. I just mean to tell you all that there are some myths about slave labor. Obviously people misunderstand the difference between slave labor and cheap labor. I encourage everyone to take a moment or two one day to further research the subject. It took me a long time to sift the fact from the fiction, but I feel it was well worth it.
                        *_Lilla Molntuss_* <0dropdeadfred0@excite.com> -- Thursday August 09 2001, @10:15PM (#16593)
                        (User #2863 Info | http://hometown.aol.com/childofmod )
                        [ Parent ]
                      ...in our different ways we are the same. (Score:2, Insightful)
                      These people who are against this advertisement are confusing me.

                      Are you mad at:
                      a) Gap is exploiting the smiths/ their fans?
                      b) Gap is advertising something you felt would be underground and the even mention of it as mainstream is appalling (and almost bęte noire).
                      c) The slave wages that is keeping food on foreigner’s tables.
                      d) The model liking the smiths and your not as lucky to advertise so well.

                      Personally I am happy to see something I hold dear still able to get some attention. Perhaps this will promote another “best of” album that we can buy from another corporation. Hopefully the insert is made from recycled post consumer waste and soy ink (lord know these processes are not destroying our environment).
                      rjgarc <sl1974@hotmail.com> -- Wednesday August 08 2001, @08:24PM (#16526)
                      (User #712 Info)
                        obviously not 16, clumsy OR shy... (Score:0)
                        That model is too... I dunno...beautiful physically to be a Smiths' fan. You'd think that to be a fan of someone's music, you'd have to identify with the lyrics/message involved. That guy probably has no idea what loneliness or awkwardness or rejection feel like, what with the hoards of people (and the Gap) knocking his door down, exalting his beauty. Not that some of us aren't beautiful...it's just that I always thought of typical Smiths' fans being outside the norm. That dude looks like any other pretty boy on the street. Maybe I'm just jealous.
                        Anonymous -- Wednesday August 08 2001, @09:57PM (#16530)
                        I think it's cute... (Score:0)
                        Look, they asked the kid what his first love was and he replied, "The Smiths!" What's the matter with this? It's not like the GAP tried to promote or support the smiths. It's just an ad. You all need to relax.

                        BTW, Has anyone actually seen that ad anywhere? I have a ton of magazine subscriptions and have still yet to see it.

                        P.S. Attractive people are allowed to like the Smiths.
                        Anonymous -- Thursday August 09 2001, @11:37AM (#16571)
                          Don't hate me because I'm beautiful (Score:1)
                          I've never laughed as hard in all my life! A debate about whether or not beautiful people could be considered Morrissey fans. What drugs are you on?

                          I'm not a fan of The Gap, but cheers to them for mentioning The Smiths. Their designers may not have taste, but at least someone in advertising does.

                          Everybody is ugly, and everybody is beautiful.
                          Earl Graphite <earlgraphite@aol.com> -- Thursday August 09 2001, @07:32PM (#16589)
                          (User #2253 Info)
                           Speaking your mind gets you in trouble every time.
                          the official page (Score:1, Informative)
                          I just paid a visit to www.gap.com, and the ad shown there is different: it just features the "slightly-too-beautiful-to-be-a-smiths-fan" dude, under the heading "my first love: new wave".

                          So there you go - maybe they adjust the heading from time to time. Maybe the guy REALLY isn't a Smiths-fan, LOL
                          Anonymous -- Friday August 10 2001, @01:02AM (#16596)
                            Well, i like the sound of that (Score:2, Funny)
                            Maybe it's like an on-line diary of sorts.....'I just can't wait to see what his first love was next week!'
                            austere -- Friday August 10 2001, @04:07AM (#16597)
                            (User #103 Info)
                            [ Parent ]
                            • c'mon by Anonymous (Score:0) Sunday August 12 2001, @04:55AM
                              • Re:c'mon by ordinary swirl (Score:1) Sunday August 12 2001, @05:06AM
                              The masses are idiots (Score:0)
                              The problem with the Gap is the fact that it represents all things in American culture that are reprehensible: Slave labour with no qualms or moral integrity, clothing the conservative masses who overrun otherwise first class cities (ie: San Francisco, New York), and opening stores on every corner, all around the world.
                              As for the ad, I have a severe problem with the use of the Smiths in it. I don't care if that model did in fact say it or not, but I think that connecting the Smiths with the Gap is disgusting and hateful. In short, the Gap is trying to leech off of the greatness and intelligence of the Smiths' name to somehow convince the public that the Gap is not only acceptable apparel, but cool and smart. That is so not happening when people in fraternities, Republicans, and otherwise corn fed individuals (yuppies and dot-commers included) are the main consumers of Gap, Inc. (with Banana Republic and the more ghetto Old Navy.)

                              PS. I am a huge Smiths/Morrissey fan, I am hot, and so are my friends!
                              Anonymous -- Friday August 10 2001, @04:17PM (#16624)
                              el barfo (Score:1)
                              barf. please tell me it's not more retarded 'revealing' advertising. i'm utterly sick of it. The gap can shove it, anyway. Evil evil conglomerates.
                              anhedonia -- Friday August 10 2001, @05:16PM (#16627)
                              (User #698 Info)
                                "But the eyes are blind" (Score:1)
                                We all know Morrissey is beautiful.But he never thought he was.Everyone here knows the lyrics.Morrissey sings about being shy,clumsy and about loneliness and about not being confident about his looks.Something I doubt a fashion model could understand.

                                Most of us relate to this music because we have felt some pain in our lives.We understand what Morrissey writes about.I`ve seen physically beautiful Morrissey fans.But it really doesn`t matter.As they say beauty is in the eye of the beholder.People can be beautiful for many different reasons.Someone with a good kind heart who has empathy for other people is beautiful.People who help those in need are beautiful.Someone who writes beautiful poems stories,songs is beautiful.Someone who can be a good kind friend is beautiful.In the end physical beauty is just that.. on the outside external beauty fades.But a gentle,kind,soul won`t erode with time.Well I`ll leave you with a few quotes from one of my very favorite books(one of the most beautiful ever written) "The Little Prince" by Antoine De Saint- Exupery~Tibby

                                "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly;what is essential is invisible to the eye."

                                "But the eyes are blind .One must look with the heart..."

                                tibby -- Saturday August 11 2001, @02:44AM (#16646)
                                (User #2713 Info)
                                 Pleasure for beautiful bodies,but pain for beautiful souls~Oscar Wilde Sing me to sleep ILOVEMORRISSEY

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