TWO WHITE SHIRTS
Recently, The GAP ran a series of ads that were pretty much done in the typical GAP fashion. Popular people wearing popular clothes. We're used to this by now.
Now I'm sure many people cringe and loathe these ads, however I am horribly and uncontrollably drawn to them.
Allow me to begin by saying I am probably one of the last people to ever shop in the GAP. I've never owned anything with the GAP label, nor do I really ever plan to own anything from the GAP. And I'm not saying that their clothes are bad or they're appeal to "good looking" people is wrong, I'm just saying I own a white shirt and khakis, do I really need more?
Now we've all seen the ads, there's one with crazy Ashton Kutcher (ad directed by Roman Coppola) and another with delicious Kate Beckinsdale (directed by Cameron Crowe). It was the third ad with Christina Ricci and Dennis Hopper that really grabbed my attention.
The first act of brilliance with the "Two White Shirts" ad is simply the star power. What better way to sell things in today's celebrity craving culture, than with two very well known names. A subdivision of that brilliance comes in the actors selected. Christina Ricci is 22 years of age and she is there to capture the younger demographics, as where 66 year old Dennis Hopper is there to capture the attention of your parents. But enough of the statistical ad crap. Lets talk shop.
Something I believe in very strongly is that if you can create a scene and tell a story in thirty seconds without the use of dialogue, you have that "thing" that makes great film directors, great. The "Two White Shirts" ad is directed by the Coen brothers (The Big Lebowski), Ethan and Joel. Now I've read a few different "theories" as to the meaning of the ad but none of them sound right to me. Connie read me an article from Cosmopolitan magazine in which readers voted that the character relationship in the ad is "sexually based." Ah, that's crap. Everything about the scene is simple, so why would the story be so complex? The ad starts with Hopper seemingly staring at us, the viewer. I believe he's just spacing out, waiting for his turn at chess. From there, the ad continues to simply show two people relaxing in their white shirts and khaki pants. See? Simple. Ads are designed to make us feel a certain way. This ads was designed to makes us believe we can relax next to a pool with lemonade in our GAP clothes...not have a sexual relationship with a 66 year old man.
Black and white film is gorgeous. It always will be. It creates a depth and a texture to everything in a scene and at the same time eliminates everything that visually could distract from telling the story. There are no reds, blues, greens or any other colors that would distract us from looking at the actors and the bright, white shirts they are wearing. I love black and white, I always have. It has the ability to take on whatever feel you want it to have. And as always...it's cheap.
Finally, there's the soundtrack. Each ad had two versions done, only the soundtrack changed. The first time I saw "Two White Shirts" the soundtrack was a song called "I See the Rain" by a group called The Marmalade, a British pop-ish type band. The second version of the ad had a song that fit much better. "Hang on to Your Ego" by the Beach Boys. When we hear Beach Boys, we think warm sun, golden beaches, we think California. There's something secure and comfortable with the Beach Boys that adds to the scene, we feel like we're there, like Dennis and Christina are our good neighbors and we've been doing this for years.
But at the base of it all, the ads are brilliant for one reason. The concrete fact that I never consider going into a GAP store is radically shaken and suddenly I find myself looking at Dennis Hopper and thinking, "Goddamn, could I be that awesome if I just bought a shirt?"
Of course I can.
Recently, The GAP ran a series of ads that were pretty much done in the typical GAP fashion. Popular people wearing popular clothes. We're used to this by now.
Now I'm sure many people cringe and loathe these ads, however I am horribly and uncontrollably drawn to them.
Allow me to begin by saying I am probably one of the last people to ever shop in the GAP. I've never owned anything with the GAP label, nor do I really ever plan to own anything from the GAP. And I'm not saying that their clothes are bad or they're appeal to "good looking" people is wrong, I'm just saying I own a white shirt and khakis, do I really need more?
Now we've all seen the ads, there's one with crazy Ashton Kutcher (ad directed by Roman Coppola) and another with delicious Kate Beckinsdale (directed by Cameron Crowe). It was the third ad with Christina Ricci and Dennis Hopper that really grabbed my attention.
The first act of brilliance with the "Two White Shirts" ad is simply the star power. What better way to sell things in today's celebrity craving culture, than with two very well known names. A subdivision of that brilliance comes in the actors selected. Christina Ricci is 22 years of age and she is there to capture the younger demographics, as where 66 year old Dennis Hopper is there to capture the attention of your parents. But enough of the statistical ad crap. Lets talk shop.
Something I believe in very strongly is that if you can create a scene and tell a story in thirty seconds without the use of dialogue, you have that "thing" that makes great film directors, great. The "Two White Shirts" ad is directed by the Coen brothers (The Big Lebowski), Ethan and Joel. Now I've read a few different "theories" as to the meaning of the ad but none of them sound right to me. Connie read me an article from Cosmopolitan magazine in which readers voted that the character relationship in the ad is "sexually based." Ah, that's crap. Everything about the scene is simple, so why would the story be so complex? The ad starts with Hopper seemingly staring at us, the viewer. I believe he's just spacing out, waiting for his turn at chess. From there, the ad continues to simply show two people relaxing in their white shirts and khaki pants. See? Simple. Ads are designed to make us feel a certain way. This ads was designed to makes us believe we can relax next to a pool with lemonade in our GAP clothes...not have a sexual relationship with a 66 year old man.
Black and white film is gorgeous. It always will be. It creates a depth and a texture to everything in a scene and at the same time eliminates everything that visually could distract from telling the story. There are no reds, blues, greens or any other colors that would distract us from looking at the actors and the bright, white shirts they are wearing. I love black and white, I always have. It has the ability to take on whatever feel you want it to have. And as always...it's cheap.
Finally, there's the soundtrack. Each ad had two versions done, only the soundtrack changed. The first time I saw "Two White Shirts" the soundtrack was a song called "I See the Rain" by a group called The Marmalade, a British pop-ish type band. The second version of the ad had a song that fit much better. "Hang on to Your Ego" by the Beach Boys. When we hear Beach Boys, we think warm sun, golden beaches, we think California. There's something secure and comfortable with the Beach Boys that adds to the scene, we feel like we're there, like Dennis and Christina are our good neighbors and we've been doing this for years.
But at the base of it all, the ads are brilliant for one reason. The concrete fact that I never consider going into a GAP store is radically shaken and suddenly I find myself looking at Dennis Hopper and thinking, "Goddamn, could I be that awesome if I just bought a shirt?"
Of course I can.