Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce—how Heinz, Dunkin’ and other brands are playing into the new relationship

The NFL isn’t the only brand taking advantage of the burgeoning relationship between Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce. Heinz, Dunkin’, Primal Kitchen and clothing brand Kid Super are among the other brands jumping on the Swift-Kelce buzz, which reached a new level Sunday when Swift attended the Chiefs game in Kansas City to watch Kelce play. Read more: Inside the NFL’s Gen Z and Gen Alpha marketing strategy Heinz unveiled a limited-edition bottle of “ketchup and seemingly ranch,” a nod to a photo taken of Swift at the game that showed her with a plate of just one chicken finger and a dollop of ketchup and a white condiment, which many on social media assumed to be ranch. 🚨| Taylor Swift was eating a piece of chicken with ketchup and seemingly ranch! pic.twitter.com/rpAOP2HFtT— The Eras Tour (@tswifterastour) September 24, 2023 The CPG giant captioned the post with, “It’s a new Era for Heinz. Introducing Ketchup and Seemingly Ranch. Limited-edition bottles coming soon.” “New Era,” of course, is a nod to Swift’s popular “Era’s Tour,” which is also being made into a movie. Heinz has been selling bottles of “kranch,” or ketchup and ranch, since 2019. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Heinz (@heinz) “With Heinz, we always strive to move at the speed of culture, and when we saw the news from Sunday, we knew this was a moment for Heinz to own and we needed to act ASAP,” said Megan Lang, head of Heinz brand communications for North America. Rethink and Zeno Group helped turn around the condiment combo in 24 hours. Read more: Inside the NFL’s Taylor Swift marketing era Primal Kitchen also seized on the pop star’s apparent taste for ranch dressing. It made a special version of its dressing called Seemingly Ranch, with only 50 bottles available for sale on its website for $8.89 plus shipping. Other food brands also posted their own versions of the ketchup and seemingly ranch photo, including McDonald's, Arby’s, the New York Mets and NYX Cosmetics. easter egg seemingly in the mcdonald's app pic.twitter.com/yiVP8J7yUR— guillaumehuin (@HuinGuillaume) September 28, 2023 When the function has Arby’s boneless wings with ketchup and seemingly ranch 💙 pic.twitter.com/EqTSte7RYy— Arby's (@Arbys) September 25, 2023 When @CitiField has chicken tenders with ketchup and seemingly ranch 💙 https://t.co/o5uMCNhevX pic.twitter.com/XjhfPiODvJ— Mrs. Met (@mrsmet) September 26, 2023 ketchup and seemingly ranch pic.twitter.com/Lj3CtCyX8j— NYX Pro Makeup US (@NYXCosmetics) September 27, 2023 Even the Empire State building got in on the trend. Ketchup and seemingly ranch pic.twitter.com/8L7UhjCaH7— Empire State Building (@EmpireStateBldg) September 27, 2023 Swift’s appearance at the Chiefs game has even caused local Kansas City businesses to adjust their merchandise, including sweatshirts that read, “In My Kelce Era” and “In My Arrowhead Era,” referring to the name of the Chiefs’ stadium. It’s no surprise brands are trying to capitalize on the popularity of Swift and Kelce, especially considering that the Chiefs-Bears game Swift attended drew 24.3 million viewers, the most of any telecast on any network last week, with a particular spike in female viewership, according to Fox Sports. Sales of Kelce jerseys have spiked 400% since the game, according to ESPN. The relationship between Swift and Kelce comes as Swift’s popularity has further exploded in the last year with her concert series, which has led to a boost for the U.S. economy. “It’s a marriage made in heaven,” said Ryan McConnell, executive VP of Sports Monitor at Kantar. “The one area where the NFL is lacking is younger women, and perhaps now younger and middle-aged men will be more aware of her.” Kelce and Swift also seem like generally safe celebrities for brands to align with. A 2023 Kantar survey of sports fans had Kelce ranked number 15 out of 100 professional athletes in terms of positive reputation, although some right-wing commentators have criticized Kelce for endorsing Bud Light and Pfizer. Swift is not entirely apolitical; she endorsed Democratic congressional candidates in Tennesee in 2018; more recently she urged her followers to register to vote, pointing them to the nonpartisan nonprofit Vote.org, which led to a big surge in registrations. Other brands making subtle Swift references include Dunkin’, which, in honor of National Coffee Day on Friday, partnered with Little Words Project, a bead-bracelet brand founded in 2013, to make Dunkin’-themed bead bracelets. They bear a striking resemblance to the so-called “Friendship Bracelets” worn by and traded by Swifities, the name given to the collection of Swift fans, at her concerts. (Craft store Michaels saw a spike in bead sales to make them.) The four Dunkin’ bracelets feature round pink and orange beads with square letter beads that spell coffee-related phrases, including “Iced Coffee,” “Cafecito Time,” “Eat the Donut” and “Get Sip Done.” The Dunkin’ bracelets will be available on September 29, 8 a.m. EST at littlewordsproject.com for $30 each. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Dunkin’ (@dunkin) @katherinezaino MAKE THE FRIENDSHIP BRACELETS!!! #SwiftTok #swiftie #taylorswift ♬ You're On Your Own, Kid - Taylor Swift Kelce and Swift were seen leaving Sunday’s Chief’s game, where Kelce sported a white and blue denim outfit from the brand Kid Super. The brand appears to have changed the name of the jacket and pants set from “Bedroom Painting” to “1989 Bedroom Painting”, a reference to Swift’s birth year and the title of one of her albums. View this post on Instagram A post shared by KidSuper (@kidsuper) The craze around Swift’s appearances shows no signs of slowing. The 12-time Grammy winner is rumored to attend this Sunday’s game between the Chiefs and the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium, which could possibly lead to stellar ratings for NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” (though the “SNF” is typically a ratings powerhouse, regardless).

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce—how Heinz, Dunkin’ and other brands are playing into the new relationship

Featured Stories