The Gap will always be famous. See, 2025 has been a real doozy of a year as far as marketing is concerned. From Sydney Sweeney’s “Good Jeans” American Eagle ad to Matt Rife’s strange E.L.F. Cosmetics ad, rage bait seems to be the secret sauce for many brands this summer.
From Sweeney waxing poetically about her superior genetics with an ill-received double entendre for American Eagle’s “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans” ad—which was largely overshadowed by claims of eugenics. Meanwhile, Rife, who likes to joke about domestic violence, starred in a makeup ad for E.L.F., which famously caters to women. Odd behavior all around.
But not every company seems lost in the sea of outrage marketing.
KATSEYE, The Gap and diversity
A few weeks after Sweeney’s ad about her superior “jeans,” The Gap and international girl group KATSEYE have released a rhythmic ad to a slightly altered rendition of Kelis’ “Milkshake.” The “Better in Denim” ad, choreographed by Robbie Blue, was met with widespread praise, the exact opposite of what happened for Sweeney and Rife.
“i love how they used this song and the song is saying ‘its better than yours’ which is probably them poking fun at Sydney Sweeney,” one person commented.
“Now THIS is how you promote jeans,” another person wrote.
Some even brought it back to the Mean Girls days: “I saw Katseye wore gap jeans so I bought gap jeans.”
While not a direct retaliation, the ad landed as the perfect reprisal, and it even earned the highest honor an ad can receive in 2025: a viral TikTok dance break. Beyond the replication factor of the dance, the Gap’s “Better in Denim” ad celebrated diversity rather than taking a dig at it.
America’s culture shift
As the ultimate mall brand and logo hoodie champion, the Gap has been a pillar of American shopping culture since it was founded in 1969. And perhaps the only thing more iconic than The Gap’s large logo hoodies is its iconic jeans ads. With just a jingle and a dream, The Gap changed the concept of denim marketing forever with its “Fall into The Gap” ad and in the 50-plus years since, The Gap has created iconic ads that celebrate all creations, creeds and identities.
It’s quite sobering to think that just five years ago, what The Gap is doing would be considered standard practice, and now it almost acts as an ad de résistance in these increasingly conservative times.