It’s hard to open any app without seeing a photo or a headline about Taylor Swift. She is the most searched person on Google of 2023. And, given that she is now dominating box offices with her The Eras Tour live concert movie on top of having the most high-profile romance on the planet with NFL star Travis Kelce, chances are she is going to stay there for quite some time.
However, this recent surge in attention has sparked a viral conspiracy theory among fans and critics alike. Some believe that Swift’s attendance at New York Jets game at the beginning of October was not merely to support all-but-confirmed boyfriend Kelce, but as a strategic PR move to deflect attention from another controversy.
It was only a few short months ago that Swift was dominating the headlines for a reason other than her budding, All-American romance with the Kansas City Chiefs tight end. Swift has not one, but two private jets. For her 2023 Eras tour, she spent 166 hours in the air. Back in 2022, Swift was alleged to have made a whopping 170 private jet trips, emitting over 8,000 tons of CO2, which is more than 1,000 times the average person’s total annual emissions, per Simple Flying. The superstar had been catching some heat for this substantial carbon footprint.
This controversy led to some fans theorizing that Swift’s visible support for Kelce at the Jets game was a calculated distraction. According to these theories, the pop star’s appearance at the game was intended to inundate the news cycle with “Taylor Swift Jets” in a way that drew attention away from her private jet usage. So instead of seeing critical pieces about her private jet use, people searching “Taylor Swift Jet” on Google would only see her having the time of her life at a New York Jets game.
Proponents of the conspiracy theory point out that the NFL launched a Swift-themed ad about her expected appearance at the game. “A PR Masterclasses 🤌,” wrote a self-described Search Engine Optimization (SEO) expert on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Taylor Swift attended the Jets game as a strategic SEO play to bury her jet emissions stories. 🤯 Genius.”
Of course, like any conspiracy theory, it is hard to prove that this was a calculated move. Some PR experts think if Swift was really concerned about negative press from her private jet use, her team would have boosted all of her accomplishments instead of engage in some nitty gritty, SEO game. ONE PR expert pointed out that Swift is simply a cultural phenomenon, and anything she touches instantly becomes headlines.
”Instead of everyone talking about the jet emission story, they’re talking about the SEO about the jet emission story. She’s created a media moment where no one is asking her about jet emission stories. They’re just talking about the story. So, that could actually be a counter offense to the PR mechanism that paid off,” Molly McPherson, a PR expert, explained to The Independent.
So at this point, the conspiracy theory about Taylor Swift attending a Jets game to switch up her Google search results is just that — a conspiracy. Or, at the very most, a happy coincidence for any member of her PR team still getting questions about her private jet use.
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