Tuesday afternoon was a monumental moment for my fellow Swifties and me as Taylor Swift announced she is engaged to Travis Kelce. I may or may not have shed a few tears, given how much I love Taylor. The flood of congratulations texts and DMs I got from friends—you’d think I was the one getting married. Now I understand how my mother felt when Princess Diana got engaged.
As someone who’s been a fan since the OG Speak Now era, it’s moving to see Swift finally live in the kind of love story she’s been singing about for years.
The Ad/PR student in me also couldn’t help noticing the “Swiftonomics” at play. A professor once told me the importance of keeping up with pop culture in the ad world, and he was absolutely right. Within hours of the announcement, brands like DoorDash rolled out discounts and Krispy Kreme gave away donuts to celebrate the Tayvis engagement. The news broke Instagram, racking up more than 30 million likes in under 24 hours.
Of course, it hasn’t been all fun dealing with football fans who blame Kelce’s slip-ups on Swift. But she’s boosted NFL viewership—statistically proven—and Chiefs jerseys with Kelce’s No. 87 have surged in sales.
Kelce himself deserves credit for a masterclass in manifestation. At Swift’s Kansas City show in 2023, he planned to give her a friendship bracelet with his phone number on it. Though he couldn’t deliver it in person, word got back to Swift, and the rest is history. He shot his shot, and it worked.
Looking back, it almost feels like Swift was writing about Kelce all along. In “Mary’s Song,” she sings, “I’ll be 87; you’ll be 89.” Kelce wears 87, Swift was born in 1989. In “Fifteen,” she sings about doing things greater than dating the boy on the football team—and she sure did, though she also dated one.
Their love story may seem loud to some, but I’ve never seen one of Swift’s partners love her this openly. It’s a reminder never to settle, whether in romance or friendship. Hopeless romantics do win in the end.
Now I’m looking forward to what feels like an American royalty wedding. It’s always a great day to be a Swiftie.