# The Gap Commercials. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 28, 2001, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gap-commercials/95664 "2001-11-28T05:11:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Farmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@Farmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gap-commercials/95664/1 "2001-11-28T05:11:33Z")
There’s been a string of Gap commercials lately and there’s one in particular that my father and I have a disagreement about. Sheryl Crow starts off singing “Just a little bit…”, and she’s wearing a plain old dress. Then two black chicks sing it too. And then it appears as though Sheryl Crow comes back again with a different outfit and hairstyle. My father say’s that the last girl is Jewel. I disagree because the last girl has the same face as Sheryl Crow and is definately hotter looking than Jewel(Unless she’s changed a lot). Mundane and Pointless. I know. Discuss. ---
**Author:** ![Gundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Gundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gundy)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gap-commercials/95664/2 "2001-11-28T05:56:40Z")
I believe the last girl in that commercial is Liz Phair. Yum. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Mermaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@The\_Mermaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Mermaid)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gap-commercials/95664/3 "2001-11-28T06:03:54Z")
Yeah, what Gundy said. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gap-commercials/95664/4 "2001-11-28T10:46:43Z")
I like the Gap ad with Robbie Robertson. (Yes, truly a mundane and pointless thing to mention.) ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gap-commercials/95664/5 "2001-11-28T11:32:55Z")
Can anyone explain those commercials to me? What about them makes you want to run to the Gap and spend your money?!? Do they transmit secret messages that I miss because I’m outside the target demographic??? ---
**Author:** ![Gartog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/22d042/32.png) [@Gartog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gartog)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gap-commercials/95664/6 "2001-11-28T11:46:22Z")
**FairyChatMom** The idea of this type of commecercial is not to make you ‘run to the gap and spend your money’. It is for product awareness, so that you are familiar with the name GAP. Maybe the next time you want clothes you will remember them, rather than a company you have never heard of. Good advertising can also up the ‘street cred’ of things, making them more wantable\* Gartog \*There is a real word that means this I’m sure but I haven’t a clue what it is. ---
**Author:** ![screech-owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gap-commercials/95664/7 "2001-11-28T11:56:07Z")
**Gartog** , were you looking for “desirable” or perhaps “coveted”? ---
**Author:** ![Fibonacci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df788c/32.png) [@Fibonacci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fibonacci)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gap-commercials/95664/8 "2001-11-28T14:52:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gartog \* > \*\ ***FairyChatMom** > > The idea of this type of commecercial is not to make you ‘run to the gap and spend your money’. It is for product awareness, so that you are familiar with the name GAP. Maybe the next time you want clothes you will remember them, rather than a company you have never heard of. > > Good advertising can also up the ‘street cred’ of things, making them more wantable\* > > Gartog > \*\* I suspect that the “Give A Little Bit” would be there to suggest holiday shopping at the Gap, the “little bit” suggesting that it won’t burden your budget. Using various age and genre artists would suggest that their homogenized, rather plain, clothing is appealing to all styles and ages. ---
**Author:** ![Gartog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/22d042/32.png) [@Gartog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gartog)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gap-commercials/95664/9 "2001-11-28T14:58:22Z")
Thanks **screech-owl** ‘desirable’ is correct! normally I have no problems with vocabulary (apart from spelling 🙂 \*\*Fibonacci[b/], possibly, I haven’t seen the exact advert referred to, but often the main point of an advert _is_ product awareness. ---
**Author:** ![shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shrew)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gap-commercials/95664/10 "2001-11-28T15:15:35Z")
The last white girl is definitely Liz Phair. I have no idea who the two black women are though. I teach black youth, and they don’t recognize them either. _shrug_ The second one sorta looks like one of the members of TLC, but I can’t tell for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Why\_A\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@Why\_A\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Why_A_Duck)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gap-commercials/95664/11 "2001-11-28T15:35:18Z")
The commerical is okay, I just can’t wait for the inevitable **Supertramp** revival. Yeah baby! _Could we have kippers for breakfast Mummy dear, Mummy dear They got to have 'em in Texas Cos everyone’s a millionaire_ ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gap-commercials/95664/12 "2001-11-28T15:39:37Z")
That old lady that used to advertise for them, the one with the big glasses, you know, the annoying as hell spawn of satan one? She used to live up here in Lake Placid NY. Pointless fact for you all. She died a couple months ago, i think… ---
**Author:** ![Farmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@Farmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gap-commercials/95664/13 "2001-11-28T15:42:35Z")
_She died a couple months ago, i think…_ Thank God. ---
**Author:** ![Tygr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df788c/32.png) [@Tygr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tygr)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gap-commercials/95664/14 "2001-11-28T15:43:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by screech-owl \* > \*\ ***Gartog** , were you looking for “desirable” or perhaps “coveted”? \*\* _“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s chinos.”_ I think at least one of the womyn of color is Lauryn Hill. **FairyChatMom** - the secret message is this: _ **FLASHTRAFFIC1!** _\* Scramble code 63A-d42 - EYES ONLY You will see that commercial at least once during any random program you watch for the next month and a half. Eventually, you will no longer associate the song “Give a little bit” with anything except The Gap. Toyota successfully did this with “Everyday People”. I realized it had worked the day I was driving around town, the song came on the radio and I thought of the ads. The irony that I was in my Corrolla was not lost on me. END TRANSMISSION _ **FLASHTRAFFIC1!** _\* [sub]Hmmm… Black helicopters hovering outside my office… Ah, excuse me, a man in a black suit and mirrored sunglasses wishes to speak with me for a moment. I’ll be right back…[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![natb71](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f9ae1b/32.png) [@natb71](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/natb71)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gap-commercials/95664/15 "2001-11-28T15:55:56Z")
I _think_ the first girl after Sheryl Crow is Alicia Keys maybe (she was on the Tribute to Heroes telethon), but I don’t know who the others are. BTW, who is the last guy in the other commercial? nat ---
**Author:** ![Why\_A\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@Why\_A\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Why_A_Duck)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gap-commercials/95664/16 "2001-11-28T15:59:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by clayton\_e \* > \*\*That old lady that used to advertise for them, the one with the big glasses, you know, the annoying as hell spawn of satan one? She used to live up here in Lake Placid NY. Pointless fact for you all. She died a couple months ago, i think… \*\* Do you mean Carrie Donovan, who used to advertise for _Old Navy_? (yes, it’s a nit, but my life would be meaningless apart from this) Here’s her [obit](http://www.arrangeonline.com/notablePersons/notable.asp?ObituaryID=64374672). ---
**Author:** ![VeraGemini](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e9bcb4/32.png) [@VeraGemini](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VeraGemini)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gap-commercials/95664/17 "2001-11-28T16:09:50Z")
The third woman is Lisa Lopez, from TLC. (You know, the one that burned her boyfriend’s mansion down a few years back.) The last one is definitely Liz Phair, not sure who the second one is. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gap-commercials/95664/18 "2001-11-28T16:23:21Z")
To be caught between Sheryl Crow and Liz Phair. What a way to spend eternity. Is it hot in here or is it just me? Your kisses are as wicked as an M-16 And you fuck like a volcano And you’re everything to me. -Supernova ---
**Author:** ![monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monster)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gap-commercials/95664/19 "2001-11-28T16:59:08Z")
Yes, I know I’m a dork because I _love_ this round of commercials! I can’t remember who comes after whom because some of the people are in a different order. BTW, someone asked who the last guy is in one. If I’m thinking of the same one, (it has Robbie Robertson in it), you never really see his face, just a side view, and he’s playing an acoutstic guitar. I think that it is Brandon, the lead singer for Flickerstick. (the band that won the VH1 contest) ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gap-commercials/95664/20 "2001-11-28T17:20:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by VeraGemini \* > \*\*The third woman is Lisa Lopez, from TLC. (You know, the one that burned her boyfriend’s mansion down a few years back.) The last one is definitely Liz Phair, not sure who the second one is. \*\* Does she sound off key to anyone else? Commercial is one of the first GAP commercials in years I haven’t liked - and hearing her phrase off key just makes it worse… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gap-commercials/95664.md?page=2)