I am not part of, I guess you could say, the Gap’s ‘target market’. No part of my pseudo-hipster/indie look – my worn, red and blue Nike shoes; torn and faded blue jeans; rock t-shirt; black, thick rimmed glasses; and fedora; none of it came from the ubiquitous clothing shop with the name suggesting spatial quality.
As a result of that, their commercials never made an impact on me. I remember the campaign they did with Joss Stone a little while back. That’s only because it was only every other commerical on every other station. And I do remember the commercials they did with all the people dancing to old swing tunes in their Gap clothes, from back in the day. But those went the way of the dodo; which also happens to be the way of those old 1-800-CALL-ATT and 1-800-COLLECT commericals with David Arquette and Al Bundy from Married With Children.
Now THAT was a television show. Give me some reruns of The Cosby Show, Married With Children, and hell, an episode of Full House once in a while (if only to see what kind of hijinks Uncle Jesse will face trying to get ready for his next gig with the Rippers at the Smash Club!) real late at night, all “Nick at Nite” like, and I’m set.
But I guess Gap ads are getting awesome. I kept hearing about Ingrid Michaelson, and how it was really great that she got her song used in all this Gap ads, being an independent artist and all. To tell you the truth, I don’t know if I ever saw the ads or not. Seeing as how I never saw the ads (or at least, didn’t remember them), I didn’t hear the song, and never really got the feeling that I absolutely HAD to check out Ingrid’s music, even with all of the hype.
A few months ago now, I was watching Last Call with Carson Daly. And Ingrid was the musical guest. And she played “The Way I Am”. I didn’t know this at the time, but that’s the song that was in all the Gap ads. And, well, I really had been missing out. I really, really enjoyed the song.
But did that make me rush to her MySpace, and listen to more of her music? Nope.
And that was very, very stupid of me. I didn’t really listen to Girls and Boys recently, and it makes me sad that I could’ve been loving this album all that time, but didn’t it. Really, really great stuff.
And “The Hat” is killing me right now. I mean, goddamn.
So, what did I learn?
1) Ingrid Michaelson is awesome.
2) I shouldn’t underestimate Gap ads. I’m still not going to be shopping there*, but maybe next time, I won’t flip the channel immediately when I see one.
I at least might get the chance to hear “The Way I Am” on TV. And good music on television, whether it be on a commercial, or TV show, or whatever, is becoming such a novelty for me. It almost never happens.
I guess I’ve learned my lesson.
*That is, unless, Ingrid Michaelson wants to personally persuade me to shop there. I mean, she does seem super-cool. And hot. That’d be enough convincing for me.
When it comes to music, it’s never too late to start appreciating an artiste whom you initially never gave a damn about. Maybe you can just ignore the ad, and go for the music if it catches your attention
Last but not least, I’m lovin’ her 1st album too!