Elliott, Stuart. "Advertising Elaborate Musical Commercials are Making a Comeback." New York Times 14 July 2000: C5.

In 2000, the clothing company Gap Inc. launched a new advertising campaign based on the music and choreography of West Side Story, in an attempt to use the success of the Broadway play and the musical film to push their new, more colorful, vintage-like styles. The technique of using old musicals as insipiration was an interesting change from the straightfoward, information-laden advertising that preceded the trend towards commericals as entertainment. Three such West Side Story-based Gap advertisements were created, in which the two New York City gangs were replaced with groups of Gap khakis and jeans wearers. The commercials recreated the most famous scenes from the musical: the "America" and "Cool" numbers as well as the mambo dance-off by both groups at the high school gym. The choreograpy is the same as that which was used for the original film. There is hope by the creators of these ads that they will appear to a broad audience of both older and younger potential customers, the former of which will remember West Side Story from their younger days. The lasting influence of West Side Story can still be found in modern media.