Every time it seems like Taylor Swift has reached the absolute peak of fame, she somehow manages to climb to yet more unprecedented heights. Midnights and the Eras Tour took her to the mountaintop; showing up for a football game has sent her adoring public into a tailspin. The world has always been aggressively interested in Swift’s dating life, but the hysteria around her date with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce demonstrates how intense Tay Fever has become—and just how eager brands are to capitalize on the phenomenon. Case in point: “ketchup and seemingly ranch.”
This turn of phrase originated on the evening that Swift attended the Chiefs game, when the fan account @tswifterastour re-posted a photo to Twitter/X of the Grammy winner in her box with a siren emoji and the caption, “Taylor Swift was eating a piece of chicken with ketchup and seemingly ranch!” The sweet, silly observation is an example of how obsessive and detail-oriented Swifties are; who but a true “stan” would care enough to note what condiments their idol is enjoying? In days of old, “ketchup and seemingly ranch” is the kind of funny, odd wording that would enjoy modest attention within the niche of a fandom.
But for Taylor Swift, there is no “niche” fandom anymore. Her popularity has reached near-universality, such that a minor meme can spin off into a full life of its own. And pandering to Swifties pays off: look at the monster presale figures for her concert film, or the big ratings boost for Sunday night football, or the overall “staggering” (as Time put it) economic impact of the Eras Tour. Capitaylism is booming, and brands are eager to cash in wherever they can, even on random, chronically online memes. That’s how you get the Empire State Building lighting up red and white for “ketchup and seemingly ranch,” or the Chucky television show riffing on “ketchup and seemingly ranch,” or Heinz literally releasing a limited edition sauce of “ketchup and seemingly ranch.”
The Swiftie fandom has also become a product
Consider how remarkable that is: “ketchup and seemingly ranch” isn’t even a phrase Taylor Swift ever uttered. Usually, pop stars are products and fandom is the consumer. How often does the fandom itself become the product, consuming itself like some capitalistic ouroboros? Rarely, if ever, at least on this scale, with major brands tripping over themselves to get in on the action.
Dunkin’ is another even more sly example. On Wednesday, the brand posted a graphic of a cup full of sprinkles and a cup full of friendship bracelet letter beads with the caption, “In honor of national coffee day, something is seemingly dropping this Friday.” The combination of the word “seemingly” and the friendship bracelet motif had Swifties swarming the comments section, encouraged by Dunkin’ “liking” their theories of a Taylor Swift collab. The company managed to whip the fans into a frenzy without even mentioning the singer’s name or anything overtly connected to her. (“Friendship bracelets” are mentioned in Swift’s song “You’re On Your Own, Kid,” but it’s really the fandom that has made them into a phenomenon by creating and trading them at her Eras Tour concerts.) The National Coffee Day drop turned out to have nothing to do with Swift at all, but the Swiftie dog whistles were enough to get fans interested in the company’s collab with Little Words Project, an anti-bullying friendship bracelet company. (Little Words does, of course, sell “eras” and “Swiftie” bracelets.)
Mining the fandom directly is an insidiously clever way for brands to make money. They don’t have to make any exorbitantly expensive brand deals with the singer herself, but they still get to leech off her overwhelming popularity. Memes are still sort of a legal gray area, and though some social media users have suggested @tswifterastour should be compensated for coining the term “ketchup and seemingly ranch,” the window for relevance on this meme is likely closing quickly. By the time anyone tries to figure out who’s owed what, the culture will probably have moved on.
Regardless, it’s a testament to the immense power of Taylor Swift’s brand and the economic impact of Swifties as a fandom that brands would even consider a gambit like this in relation to a flash-in-the-pan fandom meme, let alone actually execute it. No other phenomenon like this currently exists, if it ever did. Swift and her fans keep finding new ways to shatter expectations. And as long as they do, no doubt there will be brands figuring out how to turn those shattered expectations into opportunities.