The Gap

What's going on in khaki hell? In the past few years, Gap has tried every marketing trick to get consumers' attention, from hitching its star to Sarah Jessica Parker to giving away music clips with pants. No go.

In contrast, European upstarts like H&M and Zara are ignoring pricey ad campaigns and offering cheaper clothes and faster product turnover instead.

After its 15th-straight quarterly sales drop, Gap elected to suspend TV ads. What is the brand of bland without the media blitz? Consumers may no longer care enough to find out.