The Gap advert is a beautiful animated story full of fantasy and feminine sensitivity.
We admit it, at Eslogan Magazine we have a soft spot for advertising campaigns made with animation. They are hidden little gems that often get buried in the whirlwind of immediacy, and we strongly believe they deserve to be celebrated.
This is the case with the latest Gap advert, a magical story created in the Ghibli style. It introduces the brand’s collaboration with designer Sandy Liang, known for her sweet and contemporary aesthetic. The campaign presents a nostalgic and feminine universe to showcase the brand’s new collection.
Gap – “Sandy Liang Collaboration”
The Gap advert introducing the new collaboration with Sandy Liang was directed by visual artist Annie Choi and stands out for its intimate and poetic tone. For the first time, the brand turns to animation to tell the story of a young girl from the Lower East Side who discovers, inside a magical wardrobe, the door to a world of fantasy, creativity, and style.
The visual concept inevitably evokes the spirit of Studio Ghibli films, with their blend of tenderness, melancholy, and beauty. The piece becomes a metaphor for imagination and the transformative power of dreams, inviting the viewer to reconnect with their inner child.
The Gap advert is set within a social context where anxiety and digital overload are part of everyday life. Inspired by studies highlighting the positive impact of films such as My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki’s Delivery Service on mental health, the brand embraces a calm and restorative narrative in contrast to the hyperactive pace of modern advertising.
According to Fabiola Torres, Chief Marketing Officer at Gap: “If you’re a millennial, you’ll remember when this kind of animation was part of our daily lives. Gap has always had the ability to connect emotionally with different generations.”
The brand invites us to pause, imagine, and reconnect with calm: “Young people are feeling increasingly anxious and sad. Creative initiatives like this offer an emotional refuge from that overload,” explain the researchers cited in the campaign.
Watch | YouTube
