GAP AD PRESS and AD REVIEW

Missy Disses Madonna.
By Marc S. Malkin

“Is there anyone in this world who wouldn’t jump at the chance to hang out with Madonna at her house? Missy Elliott is apparently one of those people. We hear that rehearsals for Madonna and Missy’s Gap commercials didn’t get off to a good start. Sources tell us that both were on time to the stu- dio, but Missy had some business to take care of and remained in her car chatting on a cell phone. After waiting for 45 minutes, Madonna apparently walked out to Missy’s car, tapped on the window, and motioned for the hip-hop impresario to speed things up. Missy shooed Madonna away with a flick of her hand. When rehearsals finally got under way, Madonna figured that it would help the ad campaign if the two spent some bonding time together away from the cameras. So she invited Missy to her house. Much to Madonna’s surprise, Missy said she was busy. Eventually, Missy’s handlers convinced her that it was in her best interest to spend some quality time with the Material Mom.”

Madonna + Missy = Win-Win-Win
By Barbara Lippert

Madonna and Gap are not natural go-togethers in the hot dog and mustard, jeans and T-shirt sense. Of course, for generating press excitement, it’s a no-miss combo. All Gap had to do was announce it had gotten the usually couture-clad rock goddess herself for a commercial and millions of dollars in free publicity instantly rolled out. But beyond that mother lode of hype, my concern was that the actual work would turn out to be just another (embarrassing?) case of the empress’s new clothes: two once-hot branding behemoths newly joined together, desperately seeking sales (and youth and self- reinvention) and whatever mass and class they could snatch from each other in this strange new symbiosis.
The much-awaited reel arrived: The 30-second spots, which break tonight, open on the still-sinewy image genius, a newly honey-blond Madonna, her hair in tasteful waves, sitting sideways in a director’s chair (its back flap imprinted with a star and a stylized “M“) planted on a fake street corner of a Hollywood lot. She looks great in a wife beater and lowrise cropped cords, high-heeled ankle-strap shoes and lots of platinum bracelets. Nicely framed, she sings “Everybody Comes to Hollywood,” from her single “Hollywood,” off her latest album, American Life. The sound is surprisingly thin and tinny, and when she gets out of the chair and dances toward the camera, it’s a kind of leaden attempt at peppiness and keeping the beat. And between the fakeness of the set and the hollowness of Miss M, it would seem we might have another Swept Away on our hands.
Then Missy Elliott raps into the picture—dancing out of a trailer with a star and an “M” on its door—wearing many layers of clothing, the most prominent of which is a giant white T-shirt airbrushed with a supa-dupa, extra-large portrait of herself (which cracks me up), and the whole production comes alive. Actually, it combusts.
Missy and Madonna in combination (the new Emandem) are electric and delightful as they sing and bump and grind together—indeed, each has customized her pants with a monogrammed “M” on a back pocket, and at one point they bang the “M’s” together, to great effect.
So here they are, singing/ rapping/dancing/voguing down a faux city block on this obvious backlot. As opposed to the heightened artifice of this “Hollywood” set, they bring a new organic, natural look and sound to Gap advertising, which is exciting.
Missy gets off lots of clever lyrics, including a bit that becomes a hook: “We walk by/ People ask, ‘Where you get them jeans?’ ” An incredibly ethnically correct trio—an Asian guy, a Latina and an African American woman—standing on a nearby stoop like an a cappella group from the 1950s repeats the question. Then both women move into “Get Into the Groove,” one of Madonna’s earliest hits, which opens up the dance set.
Though they make a mighty match, each performer shows her individuality—musically, in movement and in personal style. Perhaps as an allusion to her new English life, Madge (who dons a newsboy cap later in the production) wears pants that sport a big “Lady M” down one side (sounds cheesy, but it looks cool). She also wears more than $5 million worth of borrowed diamond jewelry. The real Material Girl turns out be Missy, whose considerable bling bling is her own. She also sports an airbrushed “Gap,” for some street flav, on one pant leg.
The longer spots (a :60 as well as a <74-second director's cut that will debut on VH1 tonight) offer more of Missy’s clever raps and also much more dance, with the movement framed in a clean letterbox setting. It’s fun to see M and M really shaking it. In this case, the choreography celebrates hip-hop and break-dancing as a basic American art form. It’s as open and joyous as any of the great Gap dance ads past (“Khakis Swing,” “Khakis a Go-go,” “West Side Story”).
As with any provocative pairing, there’s some competition. One spot ends with Madonna doing a yoga pose (tree) and Missy getting down to do a split.Madonna looks over and says, “I can do that!” In the 60-second spot and the director’s cut, we get to see Madonna getting down to do the split. Then she raises her hand balletically over her body as if to say, “So there.”
The standard rap on Gap, of course, is that there’s a sameness to the merch that makes it seem like a uniform. In these spots, the customized work on the two artists’ outfits alone could outdo the detailing of the collective vehicles of Nascar for years. (Gap.com will offer a limited supply of customized cords.)
As for the by-now-cliché idea of synergy, it’s a festival. Gap is releasing a CD, and Madonna will have new crossover appeal to Missy’s audience and vice versa. But it’s win-win-win for Gap; most important, as an effortless blend of ages, ethnicities and musical styles, the campaign suggests a democratic elasticity that goes to the heart of what the Gap brand has always stood for. I was swept away, in a good way.
Source: ADWEEK

Madonna And Missy Elliott Team Up For The Gap

Madonna and Missy Elliott have been tapped to appear in the Gap’s newest ad campaign. A special “Directors Cut” of the spot is scheduled to premiere nationwide on VH1 on Monday (July 28), while the full-blown campaign on all the major TV networks follows on July 30. The television commercials will be choreographed to a remix of Madonna’s 1985 hit “Into The Groove” which features both artists. The 30-second and 60-second spots are titled, “A New Groove, A New Jean.”
A limited-edition Madonna and Elliott CD remix will be available exclusively at Gap stores and at gap.com beginning July 31. Gap customers will receive the CD as a gift when they purchase any full priced corduroys or jeans The CD features the new song called “Into The Hollywood Groove,” which consists of elements from Madonna’s latest single “Hollywood” and her 1985 hit “Into The groove.” In addition, the CD includes a new remix of “Hollywood”
As part of the campaign, the Gap will make a donation on behalf of Madonna and Elliott to the VH1 Save The Music Foundation, which is dedicated to restoring music education programs to America’s public schools.
Madonna signed on as a celebrity spokesperson for Pepsi nearly 15 years ago, but the company cancelled her commercial after hearing complaints about the mix of religious and sexual imagery in ne of her music videos.
Elliott has recently been featured in Vanilla Coke commercials with actor Chazz Palminteri.
Source:Launch Yahoo

GET INTO THE HOLLYWOOD GROOVE

Madonna and Missy Elliott have recorded a new version of ‘Hollywood’ for GAP.
“Into The Hollywood Groove” combines the Madonna classic “Into The Groove” with her new single ‘Hollywood’. Both Madonna and Missy Elliott will feature in the TV campaign for GAP. The song will be the soundtrack to both the 30 and 60 TV commercials and a limited edition single will also be available from GAP stores in the USA and UK.
The CD is available from July 31 and features the new song “Into the Hollywood Groove” which consists of elements from “Hollywood,” and her ’85 hit “Into The Groove” plus a new remix of “Hollywood.”

For the ad, Madonna wears Gap’s new low rise cropped cords and a Gap Body ribbed white tank top. Her cords feature embroidery and rhinestone detailing, including an “M” on the back pocket and “Lady M” on the front pant leg. To complete her look she dresses herself up with more than $5 million in diamond jewelry from Neil Lane.
Missy’s look features Gap low rise boot cut cords worn with a matching cord jacket customized with a classic Gap gray hoodie. Underneath her jacket, she wears a classic Gap T emblazoned with an airbrushed self-portrait. Missy’s cords also feature an embroidered and studded “M,” and in true Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott style, Gap is spelled out on her pant leg in airbrushed detailing. Missy wears her own diamond jewelry.The director’s cut version of the television commercial will air today July 28 at 8pm on VH1 Usa.

From Undercover News