Gap in Logic

Mikaela suggests:
Check out this VERY funny Gap ad you won't ever see, directed by Spike Jonze.

Here's the full story from Slate (Don't have Quicktime? You can also check out the slightly less funny version w/ Real Player or Windows Media Player.)

Some back story: Gap decided a while back that its retail stores were looking dated; the displays needed freshening up. So, the company made some changes in the layout of its shops. (For instance, the Manhattan Gap at 59^th and Lexington is getting an overhaul.) The point of this ad, as Gap deployed it, was simply to announce the remodeling effort. ...

Instead of running the "Dust" spot in just a couple of markets, and tying it exclusively to the remodeling effort, Gap should have used this ad as the centerpiece of a national campaign. Directed by Spike Jonze (the man behind Being John Malkovich and Adaptation), the spot is hilariously funny.

The spot has been linked to all over the Web—evidence of how entertaining it is. And it would have been the perfect solution to the Gap's brand problem: Some self-deprecating humor, mixed with an ingenious visual metaphor. They wouldn't need to change a single word in that tag line. Alas, a spokesperson says they have no plans to run the spot in the future.

I just can't understand spending all that money on a big-name director, and a big-budget shoot, and then frittering the results away on such a limited purpose. Did Gap not see the possibilities? Were they too scared to go for broke?