The Ketchup And Seemingly Ranch Phenomenon, Explained

Millions of people are fixated on Taylor Swift seemingly dating Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, especially after Swift attended the Chiefs’ 41-10 blowout of the Chicago Bears at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri on Sunday, September 24. During the game, everything Swift did went viral – from how she screamed “let’s f*cking go” after Kelce’s touchdown catch to what she had on her plate in Kelce’s suite.

The popular Swift fan account @tswifterastour on X (formerly known as Twitter) posted a seemingly innocuous photo of Swift posing with someone in the suite. Swift was seated at a table on which a plate with one chicken strip, one puddle of ketchup, and one puddle of a white sauce was set. “Taylor Swift was eating a piece of chicken with ketchup and seemingly ranch!” the person behind @tswifterastour captioned the post that has since been viewed 32.3 million times.

Before we go any further, has anybody considered that the plate wasn’t even Swift’s? Isn’t it entirely possible that Swift just wanted to calm down from all her feral cheering and sat down without noticing that someone else’s plate was there? And, as a Kansas Citian, I feel responsibility to point out that it’s also likely that the presumed ketchup in this situation could have very well been barbecue sauce.

Regardless, brands saw an opportunity. On Tuesday, September 26, Heinz revealed a limited-edition “Ketchup And Seemingly Ranch” flavor that will soon be available for purchase.Primal Kitchen is selling a “Seemingly Ranch” dressing for $8.99 on its website. The bleeping Empire State Building lit up in red and white on Wednesday night, September 27, and the building’s X account posted, “Ketchup and seemingly ranch.”

“my life has severely spiraled into an unending void of seemingly ranch the past few days,” the person behind @tswifterastour wrote on Wednesday night. “not sure how to handle the products released about it but if they want to reach out my dms are always open.”

There will seemingly be more opportunities for brands to leverage Kelce and Swift’s personal lives for their greedy gain this weekend. According to Front Office Sports and Jordan Schultz, Swift “plans to attend” the Chiefs’ next game against the New York Jets on Sunday, October 1, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The game will be on NBC’s Sunday Night Football, beginning at 8:20 p.m. EST.