13. 1989. Friendship bracelets.
These are all things that have become synonymous with Taylor Swift for her fans around the world. And now, since the record-breaking singer-songwriter has been attending Kansas City Chiefs games to support her boyfriend, tight end Travis Kelce, many people associate her with the team’s red jerseys and football.
This year, Cetaphil’s Super Bowl ad features each one of those things, without outright naming Swift, Kelce or the Chiefs, but referencing them all the same.
The ad begins with a shot of a daughter on her phone, as her father watches a sports game on the television. When he later goes to show his daughter something excitedly on his phone, she seemingly brushes it off and moves on.
Shortly after, while she’s moisturizing her face with Cetaphil, she hears her dad’s TV downstairs as the football announcers note, “Well, folks, there she is. It’s the most famous fan of the game.” When her father sees that it brings a smile to her face, he raises the volume, and they have a sweet, silent bonding moment.
Later, he gets her a jersey with the number 13 on it — Swift’s favorite number — to match his red jersey with the number 89 on it — Swift was born in 1989. She dons the jersey and joins her father to watch the next game, as their wrists are decked out with friendship bracelets, which became a critical part of Swift’s Eras Tour when it kicked off last year.
“This season, dads and daughters found a new way to connect,” the ad says at the end, with a note, “Real Father and Daughter, Living in New York.”
Social media chatter began surrounding the Super Bowl ad on Friday, where many in the comments across platforms claimed that the commercial was clearly benefitting from its Swift imagery without legally doing anything wrong, considering it doesn’t use her likeness, songs or anything that could be more concretely linked to her.
Late Friday night, a TikTok creator named Sharon Mbabazi (@sharavinaaa), claimed Cetaphil stole the idea for the marketing campaign from her videos with her stepfather, in which she is doing her skincare routine and he walks in to talk to her about Swift and Kelce in the NFL.
In multiple TikToks posted since last night — one of which already has over a million views — Mbabazi and her stepfather have reacted to the campaign, calling out the skincare brand for stealing the creator’s ideas, and jokingly calling on Swift or Kelce to say something about it.