Comments by Carla Homan:  Oh, how inventive! I'm almost convinced it's not a prank by the mere fact that it says it's not a prank.

Unfortunately for true believers everywhere, Gap Inc. (the company apparently doesn't call itself The Gap anymore) was founded by Don and Doris Fisher in San Francisco, 1969, not by Janelle McCan. Perhaps Don and Doris, like the writer of this hoax, happen to talk like pre-teen girls on the verge of menarche, and would indeed exhort you to "SHOP BABY!" Who knows? But their existence definitely precludes the possibility of Janelle McCan handing out $35 gift certificates for getting the Gap name out to young people around the world. (Note to self: find mysterious paradise where young people have not heard of Gap.)

In a sophisticated effort to prevent people from questioning the email, the following two paragraphs were added in later versions of the email:

Good question: what will they think of next? Despite the presence of this, er, convincing testimonial, you can be certain that no "screen" will ever appear with this message, whether you send 1 or 133 copies. Gap says it's not true. And it's not possible from a technological point of view. (And, for the math impaired, 19 mailings to 7 people times the imaginary $35 gift certificate actually equals over $600 worth of pretend clothes. Unless by "19 messages" our prankster means 19 individuals, which yields only $70 worth of invented clothing at a rate of $35 per 7. But $70, $600, or $200 worth of make-believe clothing from Gap is still the same amount of clothing from Gap: none.)

It's email, not magic. It's the electronic equivalent of a piece of paper, yet people seem to think it can accomplish such miracles as curing dying children, stopping the creation of imaginary laws in congress, and nobler enterprises such as getting free clothes from Gap, all for flooding the inboxes of your friends, coworkers and relatives with get-rich-quick schemes a two-year-old could see through... provided it arrived via snail mail.

Carla Homan is a writer and researcher based in Washington, D.C.

Further reading:

Gap Chain Letter, Version #1
First sighted in June 1999

Abercrombie & Fitch Chain Letter
Definitely not a rags to riches story

Old Navy Chain Letter
Isn't this getting tiresome?

True Facts About Gap Inc.
From the horse's mouth, as it were

Gap Inc. Statement on Chain Letter Hoaxes
"Chain letters and other email hoaxes regarding any Gap, Banana Republic or Old Navy promotions are not legitimate. Please disregard any correspondence you've received promising free clothing or gift certificates."