Gap's Celebrated TV Spots Make an Easy Transition to Radio

Business Wire, July 3, 1997

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 3, 1997--Gap Inc., one of the world's most recognized brands, is adapting for radio the bold television campaign which launched in April. Gap's radio campaign rolls out on July 2 with two 30-second spots starring rap artist/actor LL Cool J and country music stars Junior and Tanya Rae Brown.

Both radio spots use audio tracks from the Gap television ads to which viewers have responded so positively. Beginning July 2, the ads will run on a variety of stations in 10 major markets: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Seattle.

In his Gap ad, LL Cool J performs an original rap -- his take on the essence of Gap -- then coolly states, "How easy is this." He punctuates the spot with the classic Gap advertising signature, "Fall Into the Gap" and seals it with a kiss.

In the other spot, Junior Brown, accompanied by his guitar-strumming wife Tanya Rae, plays surf licks on the guit-steel -- a combination guitar and slide steel he invented. At the end of the spot, he says, "This is totally easy." Junior closes by playing his own rendition of the classic Gap advertising signature, "Fall Into the Gap," complete with a flourish on the whammy bar.

"Our TV spots have been so well received by our customers that adapting the concept for radio was a natural," says Michael McCadden, Gap Senior Vice President of Marketing. "In its early years, Gap had a long, successful relationship with radio, going all the way back to the first use of the Gap advertising signature. 'Fall into the Gap.' What better way to reemerge as a radio advertiser than to bring back that classic line."

The two radio spots will run in conjunction with Gap's television campaign, currently comprised of nine 30-second ads featuring LL Cool J, Junior and Tanya Rae Brown, actors Eric Mabius, David Arquette and Lucas Haas, William Macy, Peter Berg and ballet dancer Nikolaj Hubbe.

Through more than 1,800 stores throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany and France, Gap Inc. sells casual, private label clothing and accessories for men, women and children under three brand names: Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy.

CONTACT: Gap Inc.

Mary Lazzareschi, 415/427-6303