just say no to the Gap

Dear Gap,

As a former employee, I feel compelled to voice my opinion and I hope that you listen, seeing as that my opinion is shared by many. Lately, I’ve been bombarded with your ads, both TV and print, for your skinny black pant. The TV commercial, featuring Audrey Hepburn doing her “Funny Face” dance to AC/DC’s “Back in Black”, is especially disturbing. I quite literally get a sick-to-my-stomach feeling every time it’s on TV.

Why do I feel this way? Well, frankly, the woman is dead. I feel that you are taking advantage of her image to sell a product. And honestly, this opportunistic attitude is disturbing. I prefer that her image remain the same—that of a classy, talented actress, who was also a fashion icon. Instead, now when I think of her, I unfortunately also think about your commercial. Perhaps it’s the harshness of the AC/DC song paired with her classic femininity that bothers me. Or maybe it’s the kaliedoscopy effects you added to her dancing. Or it might be the fact that Ms. Hepburn isn’t even wearing Gap pants in the ad! Whatever it is, I hate that she is posthumously your spokesperson.

I understand that you’re in the business of making money. I know that the company isn’t doing so hot right now and it hasn’t been for awhile. I get that you want to capitalize on Ms. Hepburn’s popularity. But to use her image to your advantage? That’s wrong. In addition, Ms. Hepburn was 5’7” and 110 lbs during her prime. Her slender frame was perfect for black skinny pants. Unfortunately, the majority of American women do not fit this description. In fact, the majority of women I know are trying to fight this skinny pant fad. So, you’re using Ms. Hepburn’s image to sell a product that only 2% of U.S. women can wear well.

And in my 6 years of working for your company, I know what happens when you’ve pushed a product on to the American public that the public chooses to reject—it ends up on the sale rack, in mass quantities. So much so that there will be plenty left by the time the black skinny pants get marked down to 19.99. All of this trouble to make a small profit on an item that no one will wear…

Doesn’t sound like good business sense to me.

Sincerely,

An avid shopper who no longer shops at the Gap