Piperlime, one of The Gap’s brands, is getting some push back from its latest social media campaign on Facebook and Twitter. The brand with the help of Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners, launched a “’Let’s Get Dressed” outreach urging followers and fans to upgrade their wardrobe from sweatpants to fashion item when going out in public.
For example, its tweets and postings included messages like “Every time you wear sweatpants in public, a single guy leaves New York” and “Let’s put Saturday-night effort into Sunday afternoon.” While some fans found the posts entertaining, others were enraged.
Responses included these comments: “Because of these posts, I’m removing Piperlime from my favorites. Don’t really need bitchy-girl status posts on my wall every day,” said one woman. “These status updates are terrible. I don’t want to hear snotty commentary. I want to learn about trends and sales,” said another woman who claimed to be in the business of advising companies on social media.
Piperlime responded with a post that it is “thrilled” by the “passion” on display on the page. “This fall we want to inspire everyone to think about the power and potential and fun of ‘getting dressed,'” the brand told its nearly 20,000 fans, touting its new ad campaign.
Despite its critics, the campaign has generated plenty of interest on Facebook. According to Piperlime, its “likes” increased 934% between the weeks of Aug. 2 and Aug. 9, while there was a 479% increase to the number of comments on the page.
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