It's almost Fall, which means it's that time of year again to update your wardrobe. Fashion companies typically go all-out to make their ads pop and stand out among the competition in anticipation of the season. Haven't you ever seen how textbook-like the September issue of every fashion magazine gets?
Gap is certainly hoping to get some attention with its Fall 2014 marketing campaign. The ads unsurprisingly feature celebrities, such as Zosia Mamet, Elisabeth Moss, Anjelica Huston and Michael K. Williams. However, it's the tagline of the campaign, "Dress Normal," that is sure to raise some eyebrows. The tagline will also be paired with phrases, such as "dress like no one's watching" and "let your actions speak louder than your clothes."
"We wanted it absolutely to be a provocation — what does 'Dress Normal' mean to each individual? I think that certainly when it's paired with photography and paired with some of the headlines, people will understand that it's about dressing the way you want to," Gap Global Chief Marketing Officer Seth Farbman told BuzzFeed.
When I first read about this ad campaign, I thought it was strange that a company in an industry all about individual expression would encourage consumers to "dress normal." But then again, this is Gap we're talking about here, which is a clothing company that's really all about catering to the masses. When you think about it, did anyone ever associate Gap with individuality?
I realize that Gap intends the meaning behind the tagline to express that people can and should dress how they please. However, Farbman's statement isn't going to be printed out next to the ad in a magazine or on a subway platform. "Dress Normal" suggests that there is a "normal" way to dress and promotes it, which is fine if that's how you want to look. But it doesn't help those who don't enjoy or don't fit into a "normal" aesthetic, especially in an industry that already has incredibly high standards.
If this campaign really is all about expressing the real you, or even if it was really about dressing normally, wouldn't it have been better to use "normal"-looking models instead of celebrities? Major kudos to Gap for using unconventionally beautiful stars in the campaign, especially an older woman (I called you older, Huston, not old). However, if the company wants to encourage customers to be their true selves, then they should probably have used more natural-looking models who actually look like their customers, not glamorous celebrities they try to measure up to. Mixed signals, much?
But can I just say as an aside that the ad with Huston and Williams totally looks like a promo for a new drama premiering on NBC this fall. And one that I would totally watch.
However, as much as Gap's clothing is all about uniformity, its ad campaigns in the past have shown us images that break away from the traditional fashion spot. Gap's 2012 "Love Comes in Every Shade" holiday campaign featured Rufus Wainwright and his husband Jorn Weisbrodt. A 2013 ad featured Sikh designer and actor Waris Ahluwalia. It's too bad Gap didn't continue on this unorthodox path with its new campaign.
Gap really hit its stride with ad campaigns in the 1990s. Even if you were barely more than a toddler, you probably even know about that one where people swing dance in khakis. It's become part of our pop culture. As a result, the company's stock price peaked in 1999. Then, it fell dramatically by 2002, and Gap fired its CEO Mickey Drexler. A decade and a disastrous unveiling of a new logo later, Gap bounced back in 2012, achieving its highest stock price in 10 years. As BuzzFeed points out, Gap is surely hoping to continue to ride that wave with this new marketing campaign.
And it probably will. The campaign has already gotten people talking. Plus, with '90s fashion and Normcore being all the rage these days, Gap is sure to attract plenty more admirers for its simplistic style of clothing. But as we all know, "normal" gets pretty boring after a while.
