More (RED)washing At The Gap

More disappointment over at Gap with their work with (RED). They’ve been running window displays with the usual pretty Hollywood people alongside some info for ‘2 Weeks’ – which refers to the equivalent amount of cash you can give an African worker for buying a T-Shirt. Or something like that.

On our first visit to their store on Broadway (ear Astor Place) we found the windows full of (RED) messaging and a large merchandizing unit in the entrance after you went through the door. It wasn’t quite clear what 2 weeks was about but it was in-your-face : we give you that. We’re not too sure why someone’s going to walk around with a T Shirt that says ‘all I gave was 2 weeks help’ but what was more interesting was the heavy use of the display to promote of the GAP Individuals books. Something that’s not part of the (RED) project.

A week later we returned to find the displays in the window just as prominent as before but the merchandize had moved. The photos are from that trip. We assume it hadn’t solf enough units and the Gap being a superb optimization machine had sent the display to a quiet corner of the basement so that better sellers could remain upstairs by the door. The Individuals books were still there and non (RED) coats were mixed with the (RED) line.

So the way it appears is that the Gap again was leveraging the values of the charity brand with their displays in the window – but when you went in, you realized with the (RED) positioning they didn’t care whether you bought (RED) or Gap. As long as the displays outside the store got you in: job done.