Last Wednesday, 11/5 after Election Day, the Gap posted a tweet encouraging political unity. The tweet included an image of a red and blue Gap hoodie being zipped up to symbolize unity between the Democratic and Republican parties.
The tweet was immediately controversial given the hostile political climate and tension regarding the election. Many celebrities, such as Chrissy Teigen, were quick to criticize the Gap for being tone deaf.
A Gap spokesperson defended the tweet by saying that the hoodie was not actually an object for sale and that the company was hopeful that the country could put aside its differences to come together.
The Gap clearly made a misstep in posting this tweet. First, the election had not even been called for a specific candidate by then, meaning that the Gap jumped the gun in calling for unity when tensions were still so high. Additionally, many critics felt that suggesting the zipping of the hoodie could drive unity oversimplified many of the nation's current conflicts.
This serves as a learning lesson for retailers to tread extremely carefully when making political statements during tense political climates, even the statements do not back a certain candidate. Customers are very sensitive to such statements given their passion over political issues, so can become easily frustrated when retailers appear to overstep and oversimplify.
Source: https://www.marketingdive.com/news/gap-yanks-call-for-unity-from-twitter-after-it-falls-flat/588470/
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