creative: critique - Be Cool Boy

The Gap is gonna rumble tonight Could it be? Yes, it could. This Gap campaign is the very definition of cool, exuberant, electric and sexy. It features the most seductive dance on TV today--the most visceral debut at the otherwise dance-free Oscars. Sorry, Billy, but in complete contrast to the unending five-hour broadcast, each of these spots, in under 30 seconds, delivers the most compelling moments from West Side Story and executes them in one brilliant, sweeping, in-your-face take. The fact that the cast is in full Gapwear is beside the point. The smartest thing about these three easy pieces is that Gap presents them as Absolut Robbins. That's Jerome Robbins, the legendary dancer and choreographer who, as part of the Leonard Bernstein (music) and Stephen Sondheim (lyrics) troika, created the Broadway musical in 1957. Robbins also co-directed the 1961 movie. And with West Side Story, Robbins managed to fuse high and low art, realism and fantasy to make a dance that was timeless. Yet it also embodied elements of the late '50s--Beat, jazz and Latin influences-- without being dated or schmaltzy. Gap negotiated the rights to the original choreography, as re-created by Alan Johnson, who was a dancer in the 1960 Broadway show and is the anointed choice of the Robbins estate to supervise West Side Story choreography around the world. A 31-piece orchestra was used to record the music; the lyrics were streamlined, shall we say, reduced to one word elements, to remove any offending non-PCisms, so that the words amount to "America!" and "Mambo!" As reproduced here, with the Mighty Gap Dancers (actually dancers from other Broadway shows), the pieces are thrilling and fast. The director, Mike Mills, who brought us the previous Gap Khaki and go-go spots, this time leaves the white space for blazing color, both in the backlit sets of abstracted cityscapes and the dancers' togs. Still, this is the one area that gets tricky. The spring line, with its wildly colored red, pink and yellow capri jeans, fitted jean jackets and clean-cut khakis, echoes the wardrobe of the original West Side Story, the tale of two competing New York City gangs, the Jets and the Sharks, represented as Anglos and Puerto Ricans. I know that Robbins wore khakis, and I know he'd be thrilled with the dance. But I'm not sure if Jerry, Lenny or Steve would be so excited about converting the idea, for Gap purposes, to a fight between the Khakis (Jets) and the Jeans (Sharks). ("Could be. Who knows?") By the third spot, the Jeans and Khakis rumble. Of course, more than the idea of conveying any moral lesson about gang warfare and the need for tolerance, the musical was written to be a commercial hit. So I guess this reduction can be considered in the same vein as getting used to hearing the Beatles and Rolling Stones in commercials. It's just a different form of commerce, and at least it gets the work out to a new generation. But it would have been nice if the spots carried some MTV-like credits in the corner, so kids would know it's an homage to West Side Story. The storyline proves that dividing the world is too limited and reductive. It's also a smart way to sell the spring line, which, when not considered colorful, could be seen as downright garish. It puts the pink and orange and yellow in context. So if anyone happens to ask you why you are wearing, say, fire-engine red capris with a sunburst yellow top, you can merely snap, "I'm a Jean. Want to make something of it?" K Gap Agency: In-house Creative Director: Jim Nevins Producer: Leigh Donaldson Director: Mike Mills/Directors' Burea

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creative: critique - Be Cool Boy

Barbara Lippert

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Barbara Lippert