Hitting stores November 12, Taylor Swift’s new Starbucks drink, “Taylor’s Latte” or “Taylor’s Version,” commemorates Starbuck’s annual red cup season and the re-release of her 2012 album “Red.”
In October of 2012, Taylor Swift released the album “Red,” which holds her trending song, “All Too Well.” These re-recording’s come from when Swift was 15.
When Swift began her career, she signed a record deal with Big Machine Records which declared they owned the first six albums she created.
Swift strongly believes that artists should own their own work, so now that the contract has ended, she is rerecording and releasing each album along with songs from the Vault. The Vault holds songs that Swift wrote but decided not to release. This process provides fans with re-recorded old favorites and songs they have never heard before.
Given the albums name “Red,” Starbucks decided there would not be a better person to celebrate red cup season with. But the release was much more hidden that that. Both Starbucks and Taylor were dropping easter eggs in the week leading up to November 12.
On November 8, Starbucks tweeted “It’s Red Season.” And on November 12, Starbucks announced its collaboration in a tweet saying, “Watch it all begin again…with a Grande Caramel Nonfat Latte (Taylor’s Version).”
Senior Savannah Johnson, an avid lover of both Starbucks and Taylor Swift, said, “I am disappointed that there is nothing really special about the drink. I thought it was going to be more of like a secret menu drink that is for a limited time only. Don’t get me wrong though, the drink is amazing, but I feel as if they could have done better.”
The drink that they collaborated on is a spin off of Swift’s favorite. A grande caramel nonfat latte. You can order the drink by asking for “Taylor’s Latte” or “Taylor’s version”. Starbucks also vowed to only play Taylor Swift for the week following November 12th.
Swifties all over the world are excited for this collab. User flowerfigueroah on twitter tweeted, “this whole Taylor Swift x Starbucks collab is such a genius move. [RED tv] playing all day at the biggest cafe in the world? and them tweeting about it on a Wednesday because we’ll watch it begin again in their cafes?”
Johnson also thinks that this is the best collab for PR this year. “Both Starbucks and Taylor Swift have such a big platform with millions of fans, so partnering together just makes sense.”
Not only is Starbucks putting out a collaborative drink and playing Swift’s music, but they are taking the marketing and publicity of this collab to the next level.
They released a special limited edition gift card with the quote “autumn leaves falling down” from the song All Too Well written on the card. The card also has leaves in different shades of red, and you can get the card on the Starbucks website or app.
Unfortunately, a fake promotion rose during the initial one. Swifites took to twitter to trick other fans on a Starbucks hack. The hack being that if you say you hate Jake Gyllenhal when ordering, you can get a dollar off your order.
This fake promotion is rooted in the fan theory that All Too Well is a song about Swift’s and Gyllenhal’s relationship.
Senior Isabelle Bruty ’22 says, “When I saw that flyer, I thought it was iconic. It reminds me of that video from the Tonight Show where they asked people on the street to scream a celebrity they hate for a dollar, and the guy yells Jake Gyllenhal.” Even though the promotion is over everyone is hoping Starbucks and Swift “Stay Stay Stay” together in the future for future album releases.
