LeBron James and Taylor Swift have a few things in common: They’re the biggest names in their field, they’re billionaires, and their talents will be admired and studied for generations to come.
They’re also adept at using their fans’ deep emotional investment to move merchandise.
James, who has been the subject of retirement rumors for much of the last year as the superstar basketball player moves past age 40, on Monday teased an announcement: The Second Decision. It was a clear callback to his 2010 TV special “The Decision,” in which he announced on live TV his move to the Miami Heat to form a super team with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
That TV special was a seminal moment in NBA fandom. Never had a free agency decision been so hyped, so closely watched. Simply saying the words “The Decision” or “I’m taking my talents to…” bring back crystal clear memories for James fans who remember where they were at that moment. So, playing off that memory clearly meant something big was coming, right?
Wrong.
Instead of announcing a shock retirement or a victory lap final season in 2025-26, James said in a social media video he was “taking my talents to Hennessy VSOP.”
Yep, an ad – a sleight of hand James acknowledged with a few emojis: A winking face, a tongue out face and a crown (of course).
For those of us who have been caught up in the maelstrom of Swift-o-mania that began the moment a countdown clock appeared on Taylor Swift’s website in August, it felt all too familiar.
Much like James, Swift has her devoted fanbase locked into her every move. It’s a relationship that’s been developed over nearly 20 years. She’s the “Mastermind,” planning out little teases and Easter eggs years in advance that send her army of Swiftologists going down rabbit holes to figure out just what she meant or what might be coming next.
With her release of “The Life of a Showgirl,” these winks and nods have turned into blaring sirens that send Swifties scrambling, primed and on the edge of their collective seats as they wait for what’s next (the main concern being tour dates or surprise ticket sales).
On multiple occasions since the announcement of her new album came on fiancé Travis Kelce’s “New Heights” podcast, the world has stopped for Swifties as another countdown clock appeared. With bated breath, nerves on edge, Swift’s fans waited and waited to see what could be coming.
And then it would be the announcement of another new variant of the album on vinyl. Or on CD. Or a new movie featuring some behind-the-scenes footage from the recording studio. Or maybe some new merch that would also be accompanied with a physical copy of the album – not that most people have any way to play physical copies of “The Life of a Showgirl.”
It’s not exactly a new advertising tactic. As his free agency was playing out last year, baseball star Juan Soto posted on Instagram about the “announcement you’ve all been waiting for” and then revealed he was joining Celsius energy drink as a brand partner. Any pro wrestling fan can mention the numerous times they’ve been told to expect a major announcement, only to have it be a milquetoast dollar grab.
But the levels to which James and Swift have pushed the envelope even further with their teases this month.
As our colleagues at Bleacher Report wrote, ticket prices for the Los Angeles Lakers surged as speculation grew that James might actually be announcing the end of his playing career.
Swift, meanwhile, is dropping album after album with the slightest of differences – an acoustic version of one song here, a different colored record there – to the point that even her most ardent fans are starting to feel like it’s a bit over the top. And while other artists also get in on the album variant games – Charli XCX, for example, released 26 different variations of her album “brat” between streaming, CD, vinyl, a remix album and cassette tape – none of them have the kind of captive audience that finds the Swiftology of it all as compelling as the music itself.
It all raises one question for fans: How much of our attention and our emotional investment do we give to our favorite stars when all they might be trying to do is sell us another product?