The recent Gap back to school campaign received a warm welcome from the USA and UK because of the diversity being featured, the advert features a young hijabi girl, a young girl with an afro and a range of other girls. Many on social media hailed the advert as inclusivity done right, sharing that it was refreshing to see brands finally get it right when it comes to featuring Muslims.  The shoot was overseen by Hamdia Ahmed, who became the first Miss Maine pageant contestant to wear a hijab last year.

The reaction in France has not been as warm, many have called for the boycott of Gap and a ban of the advert, French MP,  Aurore Bergé made her feelings known via a comment on Twitter on the 11th of August. A petition has also been started in France on change.org that has garnered over 8,000 signatures, many have suggested that the response reflects Frances history of secularism. This is not the first time that we’ve seen France try to enforce “religious neutrality”, in 2010 a law was passed to make it illegal for anyone to cover their face in a public place.

Aurore Berge “Nothing justifies or authorizes the veiling of little girls! And today, Gap makes it a commercial argument under the pretext of an ode to diversity.”

Rien ne justifie ni n'autorise que l'on voile des petites filles !
Et Gap en fait aujourd'hui un argument commercial sous prétexte d'ode à la diversité…
Ma réaction ⬇https://t.co/LyrVMizuGa

— Aurore Bergé (@auroreberge) August 11, 2018

https://twitter.com/MazMHussain/status/1034097661094371334

https://twitter.com/arooshmir/status/1026492990041276416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1026492990041276416&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amaliah.com%2Fpost%2F49261%2Fpeople-celebrating-new-gap-campaign-meetmeinthegap