The hottest story in the ad world today concerns the newly-released TV components of a campaign that had a few scratching their heads last week: W+K’s “Dress Normal” for new client Gap.
These ads, directed by David Fincher, add a bit of narrative heft to a campaign previously consisting of celebrities in everyday poses. The first one, “Golf”, elaborates on the “it’s OK if your clothes are a little boring” theme with a bit of spontaneously unconventional romance:
Three more and credits below.
“Drive” reminds us that the act of taking off one’s pants can be both overly dramatic and (shocker) kind of hot:
“Kiss” is the cleverest of the bunch, playing off the inherent awkwardness of an extended glimpse into moments of (supposed) intimacy with a moment of cheeky self-awareness.
It’s also far shorter and less cloyingly pretentious than “First Kiss” (though it almost certainly won’t match that video’s 90 million views):
Finally, “Stairs” shows how far a given man will go to reach his goal — no matter how “normal” her outfit happens to be.
We just hope the protagonist in that last one walks back down the stairs to retrieve his shirt. As “normal” as it may be, it still wasn’t free.
Media response to the campaign has, so far, been very positive. HuffPo calls it “better than most of the feature films released this month” while Vanity Fair says it’s “undeniably adorable” and Gap’s CMO tells Mashable that the campaign was designed to “sort of jump into the middle of the story, skipping the beginning and leaving out the end.”
Most important question: are these ads more believable than Fight Club?
TV SPOT: Golf, Drive, Kiss and Stairs |
CLIENT | Gap |
PROJECT NAME | Dress Normal |
LAUNCH DATE | 9/1/14 |
DURATION OF CAMPAIGN | 9/1/14 – 11/1/14 |
W+K NEW YORK | |
Executive Creative Directors | Susan Hoffman & David Kolbusz |
Creative Directors | Stuart Jennings & Susan Hoffman |
Copywriter | Sheena Brady |
Art Director | Kim Haxton |
Head of Content Production | Nick Setounski |
Executive Producer | Alison Hill |
Producer | Lisa Delonay |
Brand Strategist | Erik Hanson / Hayley Parker |
Account Team | Tamera Geddes, Dipal Shah, Patty Ehinger |
Business Affairs | Lisa Quintela |
PRODUCTION | |
Production Company | Reset |
Director | David Fincher |
Executive Producer/COO | Dave Morrison |
Executive Producer | Jeff McDougall |
Line Producer | Laura Miller |
Director of Photography | Jeff Cronenweth |
Production Designer | Don Burt |
Costume Designer | Trish Summerville |
EDITORIAL | |
Editorial Company | Work Editorial Inc. |
Editor | Kirk Baxter |
Post Producer | Sari Resnick |
Post Executive Producer | Erica Thompson |
Editorial Assistant | Nate Gross, Mike Horan, Billy Peake |
VFX | |
VFX Company | Mill LA / Mill NY |
Sr. Exec Producer | Sue Troyan |
Producer | Dan Roberts; Coordinator: Jillian Lynes; NY Producer: Clairellen Wallin |
2D Lead Artists | Tim Davies, James Allen |
2D Artists | Robert Murdock, Tara Demarco, Timothy Crabtree, Jale Parsons; NY 2D Artists: Brandon Danowski, Jamin Clutcher |
TELECINE | |
Telecine Company | Light Iron |
Colorist | Ian Vertovec |
MIX | |
Mix Company | Sound Lounge |
Mixer | Tom Jucarone |
Sound Designer | Tom Jucarone |
Producer | Vicky Ferraro |
MUSIC – DRIVE | |
Song | “L’amour LaMort” |
Artist | Martial Solal |
MUSIC – GOLF | |
Song | “Wait A Minute” |
Artist | performed by Eddie Ray /licensed by Bank Robber |
MUSIC KISS | |
Song | “Kiss” |
Artist | David Holmes |
MUSIC – STAIRS | |
Song | “Inner Babylon” |
Artist | written by Shabaka Hutchings /performed by Sons of Kemet |