“This Gap Kids campaign highlights true stories of talented girls who are celebrating creative self-expression and sharing their messages of empowerment”.
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Photos posted on GapKids’ Twitter account on Saturday show children in active poses; one stands in an acrobatic pose while another break dances.
Many also argued that the black girl in the ad was mainly being used as a mere prop in comparison to the roles that the white girls played in the ad – thus demanding an apology from Gap.
Clothing retailer Gap apologized on Tuesday after receiving criticism that an ad for the company’s children’s clothing line was racially insensitive.
The social media backlash then came fast and furiously.
Another questioned: “How does that picture pass the approval process“.
“Thanks for perfectly illustrating what “passive racism” looks like in mainstream media”. Debbie Felix, a spokesperson for GapKids, apologised for any offence caused and said the company will remove the image.
As the debate about whether or not the ad was racist unfolded on Twitter, ex-NFL player turned filmmaker Matthew Cherry pointed out another, older Gap Kids ad, where a black girl uses a white girl as an arm rest.
He added, “Sometimes I think there needs to be mass therapy for Af-Ams”.
To which he was applauded by another, who tweeted, “The girl was much taller”.
According to several Twitter users, the fact that one of the white children in the image is resting her arm on the head of the only black child featured is “unempowering” and goes against the idea of the campaign which is that all girls can do anything.
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GAP’s beliefs as a company and history handling instances of racism so far appear to be inconsistent with the accusations of their latest ad being racist.
