The Trouble with Travis Kelce? A Textbook Tale in Secondhand Branding and Its Impact on Taylor Swift
Why I’m Writing About This:
On February 11th, the most Americans since the 1969 moon landing, gathered around their televisions, ready to watch the 2024 Super Bowl.
Whether you tuned in for the game, Usher, Reba, the food, the ads, the celeb culture, or the community, there are two key players that have taken over the media headlines, for better or for worse, Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift.
Now, a little over a full week later, we’ve had time to fully unpack the episodic nature of the potential future, 30-minute version of All Too Well that played out in front of us.
And, from my perspective, there could be “trouble” on the horizon with Travis Kelce, especially as it relates to Taylor Swift and her historically curated image and brand.
Forget Bad Blood. This is more about bad branding.
I unpack my thoughts below.
The Key Players:
We’ve all been privy to the public playout of the Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift romance.
At first, I was feeling pretty apathetic towards it.
Then, as the months passed, it was starting to feel a little more normal; at times, it seemed very picturesque and romantic.
Then, the Super Bowl happened.
Since the Super Bowl, there have been multiple moments, where I’ve stopped and wondered:
Why are we glorifying Travis Kelce?
Why is Taylor Swift allowing this to be aligned with her brand?
The conversation has emerged in many circles and perspectives are all over the place.
Why do we care?
The Concerns:
With the public eye comes public responsibility.
I believe (and live!) this wholly even in my much smaller sphere of influence.
When it comes to reputation, each person has to carefully consider:
How to choose and identify their sphere of influence
How to use their platforms for messaging
How you leverage your power, impact, and alignment
Consider this quote:
“Brands are essentially patterns of familiarty, meaning fondness and reassurance that exist in the minds of people.”
- Tom Goodwin
When these patterns are shaken, it can feel unsettling.
The risk is the dissolution of the hard earned brand.
When you see Travis Kelce disrespecting and assaulting his coach, choosing not to acknowledge his behavior at the trophy presentation, partying all night, drunkenly working his way through the parade, and continuing to party hours after a tragic mass shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs Superbowl Parade, it feels very anti-Swiftie.
It only takes a quick Google search to reveals these patterns of behavior have been present most of his life.
Why It Matters:
Mind you, Travis Kelce is not the first (nor will he be the last) 34-year old professional sports player to behave this way.
Many will say that it is excused because of the accomplishment of winning the Superbowl.
“Boys will be boys”
(that’s a separate post/conversation in itself- just listen to Taylor Swift’s song “The Man”)
In fact, there have been many times where I told myself to let it go and stop thinking about it.
Then, I showed up at an elementary school for a before school chorus rehearsal.
Half of the girls in the group of third through fifth graders were wearing Taylor Swift merchandise or Swiftie inspired friendship bracelets.
I couldn’t shake the feeling of the teachers being there so early, showing up for the real, impactful presence of these students. These teachers matter, and honestly, our society should be placing them on a pedestal, far above and beyond Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift.
I digress.
These young fans may or may not ever see or know the actual Taylor Swift, but maybe they saw her at the Super Bowl… and, it is reasonable to ask: is she showing up for these young fans in the way a role model should?
Or, is this romantic influence shifting her away from what she has historically presented as her authentic self and brand?
Is she now endorsing and aligning with the toxic masculinity she once called out?
When “You Don’t Own Me” by Lesley Gore plays prior to the beginning of the Eras Tour, you don’t envision her chugging beers on a Jumbotron to the “applause” of locker room podcast chatter of her beau and his brother…Even if it was in response to drinking games scrutinizing her game day screen times, her Time Person of the Year Interview specifically discussed her avoidance of drinking with her grueling show schedule.
What changed?
Again, should we care?
I don’t know…
But, I do know children are our future, and I believe we have a responsibility, as adults, to lead as such, especially when we are positions of impact and power.
The Carryover Questions:
At what point does “winning” supersede the basic consideration of humanitarian existence?
What do we want our young people modeling as “success”?
Have we, as a country, become so desensitized to gun violence that we can still “party” in the aftermath of a mass shooting?
How long will Taylor Swift allow these antics to influence or chip away at the brand she has worked hard to build and protect?
Do we want to live in a society where all of these younger “Taylors” try to find their “Travis” with similar (or worse) results?
In the song “Fifteen”, Swift says “in your life you’ll do things greater than dating the boy on the football team”.
Is her brand showing that to the next generation or is “the boy on the football team” suddenly overshadowing all of her accomplishments and career strides?
We all know that Reputation (Taylor’s Version) is coming soon.
Time will tell what type of reputation that will be.
