Debra Goldman's Postscript : Nice 'n' Easy

A nyone who ever heard the old basso 'Fall into the Gap' slogan--and that includes everybody--can never forget it. It is a relic of the days when ads were ads, and catchy jingles ruled the airwaves.In the latest spots from the ubiquitous retailer, 'Fall into the Gap' is back --sort of. In the Gap rap, which was commissioned from LL Cool J for this campaign, the hip hopster teases it, reprises it and then seals it with a kiss.And if you are paying attention, you can hear the keyboard accompaniment to a hapless trumpet 'performance' in another execution end in a downbeat variation on those famous five descending notes. When the marketers hit the nostalgia button to appeal to the 20-something demographic, you know that we're all getting on.The relationship between the Gap and aging Gen Xers is a long and intimate one. They fell into the Gap as mall babies and the chain grew with them, flowering as the purveyor of nonfashion when this marketing-weary cohort came of age.The Gap's fascinating mixture of an individualistic sales pitch and pod-people merchandising struck a chord. So much so that in 1993, when Art Club 2000, a collective of seven Cooper Union art school students, went out in search of the soul of their generation, they found it in the garbage of their neighborhood Gap store.In retrospect, this SoHo gallery show, covered by art journals worldwide, probably marked the high point of the Gap-Xer bond. Not that the company appreciated it at the time. As part of their anthropological exploration, the group bought look-alike outfits for a photo shoot, and then, to test the 'no hassle' return policy, brought them back soiled and sweaty, claiming they, uh, just didn't like them anymore.Security guards chased them away when they tried to take pictures of the merchandise displays, and after they 'appropriated' the Gap logo for an ad of their own in Artforum, the company threatened to sue.Fools. The retailer should have hired them to do their advertising instead. Art Club 2000's exhibition was satire, but it was also homage. As one member said, 'Fashion is usually used as fantasy to transform you. But the Gap promises not to transform you. That what they're going to do is let you shine through.' Spoken like a true focus-group respondent. The words read like the brief for this campaign.True, the Gapgeist no longer seems quite as world-defining as it did in 1993, when Gen X was in its cultural prime. But in the 'make my life simpler, please' '90s, there still is a market for the transparent clothes featured in these transparent ads that take 'It's easy' as its theme.'Featured,' though, is not exactly the right word. While the product--Easy Fit jeans--does appear in the ads, one doesn't know exactly what the spots are selling until the tagline appears at the end.'Selling,' of course, isn't the right word either for the laidback performances showcased in these spots. In one, a young guy pounds a neo-Beat tattoo on the conga drums. In another, an EveryX-er spits futilely into a trumpet, suggesting we are never more individual than when we're making idiots out of ourselves.But the white boy amateurs pale next to the pro LL Cool J, who extols the Gap in medium- and long-shot versions. Sure, hip hop is, along with extreme sports, the no-brainer hook for this demographic.But the prancing and feigning rapper, one sleeve removed from his oh-so-individual Gap T-shirt, is both dynamic and charming. It's the kind of ad you pay more attention to the second time you see it--in order to get the words. About the fifth time around, you realize what all that rhymin' and chimin' reminds you of: a jingle. Copyright ASM Communications, Inc. (1997) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED National

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Debra Goldman's Postscript : Nice 'n' Easy

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