The world’s fascination with Taylor Swift has not subsided, and after her recent appearances at Kansas City Chiefs games, she has influenced Heinz and Hidden Valley Ranch to create a condiment in her honor.
Swift made headlines after her budding relationship with Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce. Her fame reached stratospheric heights this year after her extremely successful Eras Tour. Her appearance at the Chiefs’ week-three game against the Chicago Bears did not go unnoticed, and fans believe that her presence was the reason for their epic 41-10 victory.
While at the game, Swift was photographed next to a plate containing a single chicken nugget and two dipping sauces: ketchup and what appeared to be ranch dressing. The photo went viral on platform X, formerly known as Twitter, where fans assumed that the white dipping sauce was ranch dressing and referred to it as “seemingly ranch.”
The photo quickly caught the attention of brands like Lays and the Mercedes Formula 1 team, and soon, the Empire State building was lit up in ketchup and “seemingly ranch” colors. Once the photo was brought to the attention of Heinz and Hidden Valley Ranch, they announced their collaboration on a limited-edition condiment: Ketchup and Seemingly Ranch. The company settled on releasing 100 bottles of the condiment because of another photo that went viral on X of Swift wearing a number 13 jersey. Swift’s 13 combined with Kelce’s jersey number, 87, totals to 100!
“I think it is hysterical and a genius marketing move for Heinz and Hidden Valley to drop this. I love ketchup and ranch dressing separately but have never tried them together. If Taylor Swift mixes them together, I have to try it now!” sophomore Joeli Deninno exclaimed. Senior Marisa Parco also shared, “I became a Travis Kelce fan just because of Taylor Swift! If she drops an album in the next year, we all know who it’s about.”
Hidden Valley Ranch renamed its social media accounts “Seemingly Ranch,” and restaurant chain Buffalo Wild Wings used the trend to promote its ranch dressing and other dips, referring to them as “Seemingly Bleu Cheese” and “I Think This Is Buffalo” to pay homage to this iconic moment in condiment history. Lays chips promoted a fake “Seemingly Ranch” chip flavor, and Sonic Drive-In posted an edit of a No. 89 football jersey in reference to Swift’s 1989 album. The photo was recreated by the New York Mets mascots Mr. Met and Ms. Met at one of their last games. The internet cannot get enough of Seemingly Ranch.
“I was never really into football before this, but I love seeing [Swift and Kelce] happy, and I understand football a bit more now. This also proved to me how much of an insane hold Taylor Swift has on the world. I mean, she ate a chicken tender with ‘seemingly ranch’ and companies everywhere made references to it. Her influence on the pop culture world is bigger than ever, and I am so happy for her!” senior Kerry Cullen expressed.
Fans believe that Swift can make anything possible. Besides the influence of the creation of a condiment, her presence at a single football game has caused an immense spike in Kelce jersey sales, ticket price spikes for all future Chiefs games, and pushed Kelce and the Chief’s popularity into another orbit. How much power does Swift truly have? If her mere presence can get a condiment created, what will she do next?
