After a long, successful, relevant run, Gap has been struggling in recent years. They lost their stronghold on American culture, from Saturday Night Live parodies to commercials so hip they made khakis fashionable. Nothing spoke clearer to their loss of touch with current culture than the failure of their new logo launch in October which took all of a few Internet days to be shot down by public opinion. Today they’re launching a new marketing campaign for their 1969 Premium Jeans line. The San Francisco based company went south to Los Angeles for the inspiration and vibe of the campaign. Its L.A. “denim design” office stars in the videos and print ads. They’re also rolling out “Pico de Gap” food trucks serving tacos with store coupons enclosed. If the denim campaign is successful they’ll translate it to the rest of the store’s line. Those of you feeling nostalgic for the Gap of old, try this 5 min video which takes you through 40 years of Gap history from “fall into the Gap” to its success with siblings Old Navy and Banana Republic. It made me realize that the hip style successor to the Gap was not another clothing store: it’s Apple Computer.

Volcanic ash flight disruptions have bumped up call volumes at Cunard reservations. Their Queen Mary 2 is booked solid for her next three Atlantic crossings.  The waiting list for the April 22nd crossing from Southampton to New York is 1,000 names long.  Other cruise lines with transatlantic crossings are filling up as well.  Celebrity Cruises canceled a brief launch cruise for their new ship, Celebrity Eclipse, and put her in service to collect travelers stranded on tours in Bilboa and bring them back to the U.K. Other travelers stuck on the wrong side of a body of water may wish to consider the mental strength of Katie Spotz who recently rowed across the Atlantic solo in 70 days, aided by 300 chocolate bars and 4 iPods. If you’re stuck in Europe, enjoy the better chocolate while you can and make offerings to Vulcan and Pele.