If you’ve been in the Gap lately or follow them on social media you might have notice their new ad campaign entitled “Dress Normal”. “Dress Normal”, that’s a very simple and to the point slogan right? When I first saw the slogan I immediately thought “brilliant!” I understood completely what the gap was saying. They weren’t using the word normal in the literal meaning but more so in the definition of being comfortable, at least that’s how I took it. They use other slogans for the campaign such as “Black is a color” and “Dress like no one is watching”. Although these are simple quotes they have a certain tone of controversy that I like. Gap Global CMO Seth Farbman explains the angle of the ad campaign by saying “What I wanted, because this is Gap, was positive anxiety. “When you’re dressing normal, you’re really your truest and most confident and authentic self”.Farbman hit the nail right on the head with his vision for the head slogan because it defiantly raised some eyebrows with ad agencies, bloggers and journalist. I ran across a couple of different blog post and articles about the ad campaign and to say the least I was super surprised by the response and most did not understand where Gap was trying to going with their new campaign.
So out of all the articles and blog post I read there was one blog post from the Huffington Post by Tom Silva entitled “The Gaps strange new strange ad campaign”. The post basically went into how much of a branding mistake the campaign is and how it did not translate well to the consumer. Silva touches on how he may be misconstruing the slogan by saying “Really? I've always associated the word "normal" when used within an imperative statement ("act normal," "be normal") with a 50s era parent hectoring their child to stop listening to the Doors or to stop reading James Baldwin”. In my opinion (like other bloggers and journalist I ran across) Silva took the slogan to literal, not really understanding the core meaning and direction of the campaign, only paying attention to the surface. Farbman elaborates more by saying “We wanted it absolutely to be a provocation -- what does 'Dress Normal' mean to each individual? I think that certainly when it's paired with photography and paired with some of the headlines, people will understand that it's about dressing the way you want to." Of course that’s the way most people were expected to take it and the fact that it was not that easily understood baffles me.
With all that being said how do you view the slogan? Me personally I get it and it didn’t take reading quotes from the CMO, its simple…be comfortable in who you are. When I hear “Dress Normal” I think of wearing your most simplistic pieces and wearing them well. Not having to over accessorize or wear the brightest colors or even follow trends. Now granted all of that could be your norm but most young people in society now are dressing like Rihanna or Kim Kardashian and quite frankly none of us are them. It's ok to be inspired by someone in the public eye but people get the glammer of being a "superstar" to blurred with working an everyday job and having regular hobbies. Now when I say all of this I don't mean that if you work a regular 9-5 you can't dress as stylish and risqué as you want (outside of work of course) but I feel that people lose their identities trying to wear the latest and keep up with those who are doing more than and defiantly making more money. *MESSEGE* LOL!
Being comfortable in your own in skin is a “style” within itself. This slogan indicates that self –assurance and knowing who you are is the new trend. For example have you ever met someone who you thought had the coolest style, their look just intrigued you. Most of the time those people are the ones simply wearing a white tee shirt, jeans and Chucks but all those pieces are worn with minimal effort. And that’s it right there, not having to overshadow your “real” personality and charaterics. That’s the essence of style; it’s wearing clothes and being comfortable in how you’re wearing it. All and all find your own normal, weather its wearing 6 inch pumps every day or wears dirty chucks just be comfortable and confident within yourself. After that is the only way to “Dress Normal”.
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