this is absolutely for white people and yes, common is being objectified. common has been objectified for years now as a safe rapper who name drops parts of impoverished urbanite culture ("the hood") without actually mentioning any of the social dynamics of the area. He's wearing the location on his sleeve, but he likes to take that coat off when he gets home at night.

These aired in the US; they were the holiday ads in 2006, I believe.
http://adweek.blogs.com/adfreak/2006/11/gap_holiday_ad_.html

this is a few years old. i remember seeing it a while ago. but it definitely ran in minnesota (largely white). i am certain that the audience is white. D (above) is right that Common is a rapper who is "safe" for white culture.

"He’s wearing the location on his sleeve, but he likes to take that coat off when he gets home at night."

wow, that's a pretty bold statement. and, i would say one that seems rather ignorant of common's career. in fact, i would wholeheartedly disagree with this statement, "who name drops parts of impoverished urbanite culture (”the hood”) without actually mentioning any of the social dynamics of the area." common is well versed with the social dynamics of the hood, and his music deals frequently with it.

let's look about common's statements about the hood:
- fell into the gap rockin the hood (sweatshirt reference)
- seeing peace in the streets when i stopped in the hood
- we going to keep it alive like hip hop in the hood
- it's good when love don't stop in the hood,

those all happen in the first 3rd of the commercial and clearly demonstrate that common, a guy who grew up in the south side of chicago, knows nothing about the hood or it's dynamics, because if he did he would never talk about peace, love, or hip hop.

is it common's fault that he and his music are marketable to a larger community?

AS a white woman, I'd say it's aimed at whites. His diction is one thing I noticed immediately.

The other was an initial impression that all but one of the players were "Obama-esque" - very lightskinned, with pretty facial features that did not imply any particular ethnicity. I was surprised at the earlier comment that it aired several years ago.

I find it weird and troubling that very dark-skinned people have become nearly invisible in popular culture since Obama's election.

So cause white folk like Common he ain't black enough? Whatever. Me and my folks "In da Hood" have had mad love for Common AND been rocking Gap for years. Now he used to be my play boyfriend (in my mind) and I hung in the same circles as him back in the day, so maybe I am biased. But I was really expecting to see some "for real" objectification, not a rapper doing what he does and representing a segment of the hip hop community that rarely gets play. There are those of us who used to love H.E.R. and feel alienated by the Souja Boy, Gucci Mane, and the like. I vote "no" on the objectification assertion.

I agree with Mae and Ed. Sorry Lou--his diction--is really his diction. This is 100% Common and 100% Hip Hop. It's a cute and clever ad. This ad attracts damn near everybody--not just white people.

I'm not sure I understand. Is everyone making the claim that because this is how Common really is, that the ad does not use stereotypes? And are we back to saying that a person is not being objectified if they willingly appear in the ad?

Original Will,

What stereotype is Common portraying? Necktied rappers singing about peace? Is it a stereotype when Jon Heder of Napoleon Dynamite fame dances in a Gap ad, or when Janelle Monae (a singer) sings? What about when actors Rainn Wilson and Selma Blair perform for the Gap? I do not think that using a popular artist to sell a project is objectification simply because he is black and performing music that is about and from the hood.

Maybe I do not understand you definition of objectification, but Common is not being portrayed as an object, separate from his identity or humanity. He is not, imo, even playing a role like the white actors I mentioned seem to be. He is performing his craft.

Mae,

Maybe stereotype is not an appropriate term here, but to me, the "non threatening minority person selling White people stuff to White people" is an objectification. However to be perfectly honest I don't know what history/conection the Gap has with minorities, hip hop, or the 'hood, so I could be off base here.

I find it a bit disturbing that seeing Common rapping about "peace, love, and gap" is equal to "white" or somehow not authentically black. So others rappers rapping about killing, hoes and liquor are?

To me I love the positivity of the lyrics. I was more upset that it took a Gap ad to get some positive hip hop in the mainstream media.

Common is a sell-out. If you know anything about Common and his lyrics, then you'd know the hypocrisy of these ads because of what Gap does to those in the developing world. Don't believe the hype, Gap still gets clothing through sweatshop labor. And the fact that somehow shopping at Gap will bring peace and love, is ironic.

Just take a look on greenamericatoday.org (formerly coopamerica.org): http://www.greenamericatoday.org/programs/responsibleshopper/company.cfm?id=229