Gap – “Golf,” 10 years later

I still love this commercial and will always love it. Every time I watch it, I want to be there, either in place of the models or even among them. I want the experience to keep going, in any case. It’s not like “1984” or “Surfer,” but “Golf” is a perpetual source of inspiration and enjoyment to me. I’ve learned that the intent had been to create a desired atmosphere instead of a complete story. That’s why it’s enigmatic.

Mission accomplished—at least from an emotional perspective. From a business perspective, this commercial and its cohort were failures. Despite positive buzz, they didn’t lead to increased sales. The ad agency behind this Dress Normal campaign would lose the Gap account, of course. To their credit, Gap was careful to not go all-in and hitch onto the normcore trend. This campaign was normcore-adjacent, though.

David Fincher hasn’t directed any commercials since this fall 2014 campaign. “Golf” is my favorite of his quartet; “Drive,” “Stairs,” and “Kiss” are the other three. They’re all black-and-white and have the same start-in-the-middle style of storytelling. They all feature a self-assured woman as well. “Drive” is the only that compares to “Golf” in coolness, in my view. The setting and the music of the former is interesting, but the latter has it better.

Within the past 10 years, I’ve watched his remake of the The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Social Network, and Mank. The Social Network is now one of my top-10 favorite movies because of its re-watchability. That Gap hoodie, in hindsight, had been a foretelling of Fincher’s next (final?) commercial project. Mank being in black-and-white evokes his Gap work and Zodiac, which I haven’t seen.

The two stars of “Golf” are, or had been, unknown model/actors. The Guy is Chris Pinkalla, who isn’t a household name. After creeping his Instagram account, he seems to have evolved into his Dad Bod form and still acts. He’s reportedly a very good golfer in real-life. I appreciate the authenticity of his casting as a guy trying to get some swings at the old driving range.

The Girl who tries to get his attention is Charlbi Dean Kriek. I wonder if there’d been a choreographer to guide her dancing. It would have to look plausible in its amateurism, but it would also have to look good. She looks good, for sure, but the commercial’s appeal is her unbridled joy. I wouldn’t mind dancing with her, but I want to dance for her even more.

I looked up her profile a couple of years ago after reminiscing about this commercial. I learned about her starring role in Triangle of Sadness, which was playing in theaters at the time. The previews of this satire made her character seem like a vapid caricature. Her portrayal as a model-influencer might not have been a stretch for her, but it had nuance. I enjoyed watching and re-watching this Oscar-nominated dark comedy and her presence.

The news of her sudden death, resulting in part from an emergency surgery long ago, stunned me.

Thinking about it now makes me appreciate this commercial more.

It caught my attention one Saturday night. It aired during a broadcast of college football. I remembered that Nebraska was playing, so I looked at my original post and deduced that the game was on October 4, 2014. The opening shot and accompanying music captivated me. That tracking shot that followed The Girl as she danced behind The Guy (relative to the viewer) awed me.

After it ended, I was eager to find the diegetic song that she danced to. I was glad to find “Wait a Minute Girl” by Newday. I saved it to my Sony PSP; I didn’t have a smartphone yet. I played it on repeat for the next several hours at my job stocking shelves at a nearby grocery store. I was still playing it when I walked home early the next morning, among all the dying leaves of vivid colors.

That period had been toughest in my life, but I cherish “Golf”and the memory that comes with it.