The Gap and Audrey Hepburn...

[Daisy Buchanan]

I'm not sure if you all have seen the new Gap commercials and advertisments with Audrey Hepburn showcasing the new "skinny" pants and black turtlenecks they are now trying to push on unsuspecting girls. Well, I don't like it. The commercials, well, I find them disturbing. Couldn't they just let her rest in peace? Is it her estate that gave permission to digitally bring her back to life? Would Audrey Hepburn, the woman who brought Givenchy and some of the most beautiful clothes I've ever seen to the big screen, really do a Gap ad if she were still alive?
Well, I don't like it. As I've said, I find something disturbing about the commercial. I wish I could figure out exactly what it is that is making me dislike this ad campaign so much. Maybe you guys could help me figure it out. What do you think?

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Shiver

It's creepy. Even my 28-year-old hubby, who acts 18, said "why do they give her that horrible music? Why is it a silhouette, not a person?" I can't watch it.

Ashley

 

[Elaina]

While I realize she must have danced like that at some point to use it on the commercial, it seems to me that her dancing like that is kind of not Audrey Hepburnish and makes her seem less classic then she was.

Elaina

 

[LizzieMaine]

I've never liked the idea of reducing people to cheap marketing icons -- I doubt the average Gap shopper nowadays has any idea who Audrey Hepburn even was, the sort of roles she played, the kind of person she was offscreen, or anything else about her. And now whenever she's mentioned they'll think "Oh yeah, the chick in the skinny black pants."

But I guess it's more dignified than Fred Astaire dancing with a vacuum cleaner was...

 

[Senator Jack]

That dance sequence is from 'Funny Face'. I saw the commercial and of course I got all riled about it, much like I did with the Fred Astaire vacuum commercial. What are you gonna do? Dead people are hot commodities these days.

Similarly, I saw a commercial for, I think, Visa the other day and the soundtrack was 'All You Need Is Love'. Yes, that's what Lennon had in mind when he wrote that masterpiece - high finance and debt.

Regards,

Senator Jack

 

[Pilgrim]

I'll admit it doesn't bother me. The John Wayne estate approved his footgae being used in beer commercials a few years ago, and the new Mustang was promoted using footage of Steve McQueen. I don't recall the movie the Hepburn footage was pulled from, but I rather liked it.

However, the real question is whether the target demographic likes it. They're surely selling to people aged about 15-30 (just a guess), none of whom probably have ever seen an Audrey Hepburn movie.

As evidence of this, I offer some consumer interviews done after the Steve McQueen / Mustang commercials aired. Most of those in the younger demographic had no idea who he was, but they agreed he was a very cool-looking guy. Evidently some things DO cross generations, and cool may be one of them.

 

[Matthew Dalton]

I doubt the average Gap shopper nowadays has any idea who Audrey Hepburn even was, the sort of roles she played, the kind of person she was offscreen, or anything else about her.

We don't have the Gap here, thankfully we don't really get those kinds of ad's either.

But there is a store in town that sells t-shirts and handbags with her picture on them. I wondered where the market was, its customers even if they knew who she was couldn't be any more different from her if they tried.

 

[J. M. Stovall]

Similarly, I saw a commercial for, I think, Visa the other day and the soundtrack was 'All You Need Is Love'. Yes, that's what Lennon had in mind when he wrote that masterpiece - high finance and debt.

Regards,

Senator Jack

I think it's Michael Jackson who you have to thank for that.

 

[Feraud]

I find The Gap commercial repulsive on many levels. The celebrity being brought back from the dead to hawk merchandise, the pairing of Hepburn and AC/DC, the odd vocal, dancing mix, etc. Not to mention the print ads I have seen that are obviously airbrushed to make the skinny models legs look skinnier. We get it, you are selling a "skinny pant".
I could care less about cross generation identification or marketing to the youth.
I find the commercial and print ads disturbing on an aesthetic level.

 

[scotrace]

.

All-time worst Corpse As Shill:

"I'm Harley Earl, back from the dead because I like these new Buicks so much..."

 

[Vanessa]

On another note - it might intrigue people enough to go and check out Audrey's movies. . .much like the famed GAP khaki 'swing' commercial started a whole new generation of swing dancers.

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

You all bring up excellent points. All of which I agree with, and now I dis-like the commercial even more. The dancing and music is just disturbing. I loved "Funny Face", it was one of my favorite Hepburn movies, outside of "Roman Holiday". I think they make her look a bit crazy, dancing around and singing in a scary voice. If I didn't know who Hepburn was and saw this commercial, I don't know if it would make me wonder who she was, and what she did. I doubt it would even make me run out and buy a pair of Skinny black pants. But who knows what kind of marketing schemes people will give into now-a-days.
Great examples of bringing the dead back to life for the purpose of mass marketing. I must admit, I liked the Mustang commercials. I thought, and this is just my opinion, that they did a tastefull job in regards to it. I also new who Steve McQueen was when it was put out, so I don't know what kind of effect it would have on someone who didn't know who he was. That is the only commercial that I actually liked that had a dead star in it.

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

All-time worst Corpse As Shill:

"I'm Harley Earl, back from the dead because I like these new Buicks so much..."

Yes, that was a huge marketing campaign for Buick, and it was terrible. What are these people thinking?? But, didn't he wear a cool hat in that commercial??

 

[herringbonekid]

while i dislike the idea of using a dead person's image like this (without their permission as it were) i must admit that even with the music and graphic treatment, the style and personality of Audrey Hepburn is untainted. i think she comes out of it with her dignity intact.

and i've often wondered why more girls don't go for that mid 50s Hepburn look.... the striped jumpers and capri pants. classic.

 

[Viola]

I thought it was cute, but then I LOVE AC/DC.

Viola

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

while i dislike the idea of using a dead person's image like this (without their permission as it were) i must admit that even with the music and graphic treatment, the style and personality of Audrey Hepburn is untainted. i think she comes out of it with her dignity intact.

and i've often wondered why more girls don't go for that mid 50s Hepburn look.... the striped jumpers and capri pants. classic.

Capris pants were actually in style for quite some time. Unfortunately they put a modern twist on some of them, making them into a flare or a bootcut at the bottom. Just my opinion, they looked kind of silly. Now the capris pant has been turned into a gaucho, which I've been told was popular in the fourties (?). I personally don't like them, but I am very short, so that length of pants just makes my legs look even shorter.
Just my personal opinion, but I don't know about her reputation being untainted. I think this ad makes her look a bit crazy. I don't know if it's enough to taint her persona. I think that anyone who know's her from her films, will know that this isn't an exact portrayal of her. Anyone who doesn't know her might just assume that she is a bad singer and crazy dancer. Of course these people more than likely won't go out and watch her movies. There just isn't enough intrigue in the commercial to make someone say "hey, that woman is beautiful and cool, I'd like to learn more about her, watch some of her movies". Again, just my opinion. I'd like to go into the gap and ask those who work there if they know who Audrey really is. It wouldn't surprise me if they said "yeah, she's the lady who is doing our new ad campaign".

 

[herringbonekid]

i think i must have seen a different version. in the one i saw she wasn't singing, there were just vocal snippets of her talking from i suppose, the same movie.

 

[Archie Goodwin]

The combination

Just doesn't work for me. I like ACDC, I like Audrey Hepburn (although Funny Face isn't one of my favorites), and I admit that I sometimes buy stuff from the Gap. That said, the combination of all three is nauseating. Who is the target market? How many people out there are fans of Audrey, Heavy Metal and Gap clothing? Okay, I've admitted I'm all three, and I didn't like the commercial.

 

[Lauren]

Doesn't bother me. That scene in Funny Face may be one of my favorites of all her films. If it's bringing her back to younger audiences, let em do it. We should be glad people WANT to dress like her.

 

[Viola]

And who doesn't like AC/DC? With Audrey, the contrast is inherently funny, like John Wayne singing a Nelly song.

C'mon that would be hysterical, The Duke rapping:

So if shorty wanna... knock, we knockin to this
And if shorty wanna... rock, we rockin to this
And if shorty wanna... pop, we poppin the Crist'
Shorty wanna see the ice, then I ice the wrist

Just let me get the Gap on the phone...

Viola