Gap‘s viral denim campaign with KATSEYE is taking over the internet — and now it’s drawing listeners back to Kelis‘ classic “Milkshake.”
According to data from Luminate, streams on “Milkshake” jumped 179 percent since Gap shared the ad on Aug. 19, growing from about 796,000 streams from Aug. 15-21 to about 2.22 million this past week.
Gap’s “Better in Denim” ad prominently features KATSEYE dancing to the 2003 song, and the dance itself — created by choreographer Robbie Blue for the campaign — has started to emerge as a TikTok trend, with thousands of users posting videos on the platform imitating the routine.
The ad caught steam quickly, reflecting both KATSEYE’S global appeal and perhaps benefiting from some convenient timing. Gap’s campaign launched just weeks after American Eagle’s denim campaign with Sydney Sweeney started a sort of culture war online, with critics arguing the ad promoted eugenics, while defenders have called the backlash a significant overreaction.
Despite the controversy, the ad has more than paid off for American Eagle, which reported strong sales in its second-quarter earnings report this week, with CEO Jay Schottenstein directly citing Sweeney’s campaign.
“Sydney Sweeney sells great jeans,” the company’s CMO Craig Brommers told Wall Street analysts on the company’s earnings call Wednesday.
Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo of the Neptunes co-wrote and produced “Milkshake,” with Kelis turning it into a smash hit in 2003. While the Gap ad is bringing the song some renewed attention, it’s far from the first time “Milkshake” has soundtracked an iconic moment on-screen. The song was famously included in Mean Girls back in 2004, playing in the background as Regina George’s sister dances while watching Girls Gone Wild.
