It’s exciting because it’s the first holiday commercial from a major brand. It’s interesting because it’s vastly different from fashion ads.

Except that it will probably make you cry, which is traditional at Christmas.

Gap presents the story of the relationship between a boy and his single mum, and a red hoodie, as the boy grows into a young man. There’s no plain verse poem. No upbeat music track. The story feels real, but it’s not a real-life documentary. You can understand the story. The film is sweet. The music is gentle, an instrumental version of Where Is My Mind by The Pixies.

The film is running in digital only, on Gap social channels and YouTube. The media buy will include digital video takeovers on Hulu, Vevo and Facebook Watch. Gap’s two previous holiday season campaigns have run on TV. It’s the second campaign by Johannes Leonard for the brand, the previous one promoting Gap’s summer collection.

It is part of Gap’s holiday season campaign, Gift the Thought, which focusses on the thought behind gifts and giving, rather than the gifts themselves.

In February, Gap Inc announced that in 2020 it will be separating its most successful brand, Old Navy, from Gap, Banana Republic, Athleta, Intermix, and Hill City, which have not been performing so well.

https://youtu.be/FeSy3G-zEtc