this post was submitted on 29 Jan 2024
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[–] beardown@lemm.ee 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

But it would look weird if she was there and heavily featured and the Chiefs weren't playing. This result makes it look much more "natural" which makes it easier for the public to accept and not question ("She's his gf, of course she's there! And if she just happened to endorse Biden/diminish Trump at or after being heavily featured on the most watched tv program of the year by far then that's just a coincidence!")

The point is that this introduces her to a mainstream American audience in the most "natural" way possible. Which then allows her to persuade the public throughout the rest of the year because we all will feel like we already "know" her. Plenty of people already "know" her, of course. But we don't need to reach those people. We need to reach the undecided and out of touch Americans in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Arizona - and we do that by using the Super Bowl as a political branding opportunity with our cleancut and All-American characters of Taylor Swift and her classy bf Travis Kelce.

It's pretty simple marketing/branding/persuasion. Not even the most complicated marketing effort that she herself has been involved in.

[–] lightnsfw@reddthat.com 7 points 9 months ago (1 children)

But they don't need the super bowl for that. She could go outside wearing a Biden t-shirt and it'd be plastered all over everyone's screens in 20 minutes. Going to the effort of rigging the Superbowl to get Taylor Swift in front of people is just unnecessary. The work is already done for you.

[–] beardown@lemm.ee 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

The people you're trying to reach are the people who would never hear about her wearing a shirt like that.

You need uneducated swing voters in swing states. Aka, people who perpetually have their head in the sand. Using the Super Bowl is one of the only ways to reach those people and is one of the only remaining artifacts of the monoculture

[–] lightnsfw@reddthat.com 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Why would they give a shit about Taylor Swift's opinion if they're not already aware of her?

[–] beardown@lemm.ee 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Why do people currently give a shit about Taylor Swift's opinion if they used to be unaware of her?

The goal is the spread her influence and encourage more Americans to follow her. Particularly women, who are more likely to support Swift and Democrats anyway

I don't think any of this, if true, is bad btw. It's how "free and fair" elections have always worked in the United States, or at least for the past 60 years. And it's worth it if it means Trump does not win

Doesn't mean we should pretend that our government doesn't regularly do things like this though

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO

[–] lightnsfw@reddthat.com 1 points 9 months ago

Why do people currently give a shit about Taylor Swift’s opinion if they used to be unaware of her?

Because they're morons? She's a manufactured celebrity. Her (or any other celebrity) opinion on politics should mean nothing to anyone.