Taylor Swift’s new album—how Sephora, Sweetgreen and other brands are reacting to ‘The Tortured Poets Department’

Taylor Swift dropped her latest album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” at midnight—and brands were, as usual, eager to get in on the action. After all, these days it seems like anything Swift touches turns to gold. Brands including Auntie Anne’s and Oreo posted en masse in February when Swift debuted the album cover for “The Tortured Poets Department.” So naturally, brands were eager to make sure they were part of the conversation when the real thing debuted earlier today. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs Brands have a reason to become enchanted with Swift and her fans—42% of U.S. households have a Swiftie in their midst, according to recent Numerator data. What’s more, Numerator also found that compared to the average U.S. household, Swiftie households skew higher income and are more likely to hold higher education degrees, giving brands a monetary incentive to become Swifties, too. On that front, there are academic undertones to “The Tortured Poets Department,” which is a moody breakup record full of references to typewriters and Welsh poet Dylan Thomas that some are saying is Swift’s album for English majors. Also read: How brands reacted to Beyoncé’s latest album While the album has been anticipated for more than do months, today’s drop carried a surprise that once again proves Swift's ability to create marketing buzz. At 2 a.m. ET today, two hours after dropping the first set of songs, she released another 15 songs and announced that “The Tortured Poets Department” was, in fact, a double album. Below, how brands from Sweetgreen to Sephora joined Swift’s fans in celebrating the release. Sour Patch Kids got in on the buzz a day before the album dropped, posting an Instagram collage of friendship bracelets, which Swift fans trade at her concerts. These particular bracelets read “Taylor I’m Scared” with the caption “ttpd will change me forever.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sour Patch Kids (@sourpatchkids) Krispy Kreme went with the friendship bracelet theme too, even creating a giveaway for anyone wearing them today. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (@krispykreme) Tums took to TikTok to post a parody of the new album’s cover. The caption to the static TikTok reads, “All’s fair in love and heartburn,” which is a reference to “The Tortured Poet’s Department’s” subheading of sorts, “All’s fair in love and poetry.” Sephora’s post for the occasion was a nod to both Swift’s recent proclivity for adding bonus tracks to her albums—and her love of cats. The beauty retailer’s Instagram post features a cat that may or may not actually be one of Taylor Swift’s own cats. If it’s not, Sephora certainly found a Meredith lookalike. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sephora (@sephora) Body lotion brand Sol de Janeiro included a countdown to the album’s release on its Instagram Story. Sweetgreen took to X (formerly Twitter) to live react to the album drop alongside Swifties. The posts felt more current than some other brands that posted ahead of the album drop due to the timing of the tweets (after midnight) and specific song title references—including naming some of the songs from the 2 a.m. ET double album release. me to every seasonal salad that i ever loved.... imgonnagetyouback— sweetgreen (@sweetgreen) April 19, 2024 The Empire State Building tweeted about the length of the album around midnight. No one talk to me for the next hour 5 minutes and 8 seconds #TSTTPD— Empire State Building (@EmpireStateBldg) April 19, 2024 Libraries saw the English major album opportunity and reacted accordingly. For instance, the Los Angeles Public Library created the following informative post on Threads. Post by @lapubliclibrary View on Threads The Library of Congress tweeted about its poetry gallery, too. The Library of Congress may not have a Tortured Poets Department but we DO have a Poetry Gallery. The series of murals in the south gallery are by artist Henry Oliver Walker. The figure in the center of this one, the largest mural, represents "Lyric Poetry." 😍🧵#ttpd pic.twitter.com/IGqlHSQAsu— Library of Congress (@librarycongress) April 18, 2024 And finally, online bookseller Bookshop.org posted a rather self-aware Thread about the situation at hand. Post by @bookshop_org View on Threads Subscribe to Ad Age Sign up now for the latest industry news and analysis Click here

Taylor Swift’s new album—how Sephora, Sweetgreen and other brands are reacting to ‘The Tortured Poets Department’

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