Gap didn’t reinvent the wheel with their latest denim commercial, but their Better in Denim campaign starring KATSEYE couldn’t have come at a better time.
On August 19, Gap unveiled its fall denim collection by dressing the hit girl group in a series of Y2K-inspired denim looks for one of their iconic dance commercials—which date back to the ’90s—further tapping into millennial nostalgia with a soundtrack of “Milkshake” by Kelis. And it’s already making history as the brand’s most viral ad ever.
You’ve got Megan Skiendiel, Daniela Avanzini, Lara Raj, Yoonchae Jeung, Sophia Laforteza, and Manon Bannerman slaying their signature sharp choreo in a series of throwback washes and cuts, resulting in a fun, joyful commercial featuring a group of diverse women who can dance just as well as they can rock low-rise jeans and pleated miniskirts.
It’s very likely the ad would still have gone viral without recent debate over American Eagles’ far more controversial campaign starring Sydney Sweeney, but the diverse—albeit not particularly size-inclusive—ad certainly hits harder amid the discourse.
In case you live under a rock, AE set off alarm bells by tapping a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Sydney Sweeney to define genetics with the tagline “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans.” While the play on words might not have raised as many eyebrows if the commercial featured a range of models celebrating their own unique features, the backlash—and the backlash to the backlash—was swift and long-lasting.
In contrast, many viewers felt KATSEYE’s Gap collab was a perfect foil, though it was certainly in the works well before the controversy. Others simply celebrated the ad for showing off the products in a “brilliant” way.
“Katseye is the PERFECT group for this,” one viewer commented on YouTube, receiving over 11,000 likes. “The girls are diverse, and each one has their own unique style. They’re not just showing off their own talent range. They’re showing the range of the jeans: baggy, skirt, low rise, high rise, etc. Genius!”
