Congratulations to the Gap, which had every option of keeping its Twitter fingers to itself Wednesday morning. Instead, it used them to zip up a hoodie in the name of democracy, as if the November chill is what’s plaguing the country right now. “The one thing we know, is that together, we can move forward,” the company tweeted along with a four-frame GIF of a half-red, half-blue hoodie zipping together. In a word? No❤️. But Twitter needed something to take its frustration out on the morning after the election, and the faceless corporation was it. Along with exposing that Gap has a ten-year contract with Kanye West and that its corporate office is only 4 percent Black, the Gap was just straight up ridiculed because, c’mon, one of those sides thinks it can sue its way into office.
It’s clear that the tweet was probably not the work of the oft-blamed “social-media intern” who hadn’t read the room. The Gap most likely preplanned its fair and balanced social for the morning after the election and didn’t think to unschedule it when democracy took a nosedive around 2 a.m last night. Which is somehow … worse? Someone spent a whole 15 minutes on that hoodie GIF, and they didn’t even get the A to line up properly. Then someone spent another 15 minutes on the caption, dedicating none of that time to reconsidering the overuse of commas. It’s stunning. Gap deleted the tweet less than two hours after it was posted, and a spokesperson confirmed that the misaligned hoodie is not actually going on sale, a small consolation.
Update, 3:20 p.m.: Hang it up, the Gap. In a statement to the New York Times, the company admitted its poor timing. “From the start we have been a brand that bridges the gap between individuals, cultures and generations,” the company said, unashamed of its own bad pun. “The intention of our social media post, that featured a red and blue hoodie, was to show the power of unity. It was just too soon for this message. We remain optimistic that our country will come together to drive positive change for all.” Stay tuned for the hoodie’s Notes-app apology. Below, witness the way Twitter crushed the Gap.
