Taylor Swift and Ryan Reynolds teamed up to create a funny Match.com commercial that puts a twist on 2020. The advertisement is taking over social media, and not just because we could all use a little comedic relief. It also features, for the first time, Swift’s re-recorded music from her old albums.
A Match Made In Hell
Reynolds created the perfect ad to represent the utterly hellish year 2020 has been. The ad takes place 11 months ago, which places the characters back to the very start of the year. Satan appears bored as he sits in hell scrolling through potential matches.
Surprise! Satan matches with a woman named 2020.
Cut to Swift’s re-recorded version of ‘Love Story’, which follows the pair through a montage of dates, including a picnic in an empty football stadium, working out in a shutdown gym, going to a vacant movie theater, and in true 2020 fashion, hoarding rolls of toilet paper. The new couple sits down to watch the sunset as comets plummet to Earth, confessing, “I just don’t want this year to end”.
The commercial ends with the tagline, “Make 2020 Your Year”. Just before the words faded, it quickly changed to say “2021” instead.
Taylor Swift’s Re-recorded Music
In 2006, Swift signed to Scott Borchetta’s Big Machine Label Group and quickly grew to their top-earning artist. She recorded her first six albums with the label, generating as much as 80% of Big Machines revenue. In 2018, her 12-year contract was finished, and she signed a new deal with Republic Records.
Swift knew the terms of leaving Big Machine, “When I left my masters in Scott’s hands, I made peace with the fact that eventually, he would sell them”. But when Big Machine was sold to Ithaca Holdings, a company owned by industry giant Scooter Braun for $300 million, Swift was devastated, “Never in my worst nightmares did I imagine the buyer would be Scooter. He knew what he was doing; they both did. Controlling a woman who didn’t want to be associated with them”.
So what was so bad about Scooter owning her music? Well, remember Swift’s feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian back in 2016? Scooter was a key player in the incident. In her blog post, Swift writes:
“All I could think about was the incessant, manipulative bullying I’ve received at his hands for years. Like when Kim Kardashian orchestrated an illegally recorded snippet of a phone call to be leaked and then Scooter got his two clients together to bully me online about it … Or when his client, Kanye West, organized a revenge porn music video which strips my body naked. Now Scooter has stripped me of my life’s work, that I wasn’t given an opportunity to buy. Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it.”
A very public dispute caused celebrities to take sides. While some backed Scooter, others, including Kelly Clarkson, took to social media to help Swift get her music back.
@taylorswift13 just a thought, U should go in & re-record all the songs that U don’t own the masters on exactly how U did them but put brand new art & some kind of incentive so fans will no longer buy the old versions. I’d buy all of the new versions just to prove a point 💁🏼♀️
— Kelly Clarkson (@kellyclarkson) July 13, 2019
This led to Swift’s confirmation that she would indeed re-record her old music. For the first time, Swift gave her fans exactly what they wanted- the first re-recorded song. Despite the bizarre debut, it’s the perfect way to show Scooter she can still make money on her old music when it’s placed in commercials or TV shows.
Was There A Hidden Message Dissing Scooter?
With Swift’s huge following, it’s no surprise that her fans may have discovered a hidden message in the advertisement.
The split-second scene comes about a minute into the ad when Satan and 2020 take a selfie in front of a dumpster fire. Next to the burning dumpster, lies a fallen – you guessed it- scooter. And of course, fans are jumping at the idea that it’s in reference to the music manager. Even more telling, the number six is graffitied on the wall, leaving fans to speculate it refers to the number of albums Swift is re-recording.
🔍 | She really did THAT... fallen 🛴 next to a graffitied number 6️⃣ representing her first six albums she is currently re-recording #2020LoveStory pic.twitter.com/pMJK6yKnMp
— Taylor Swift News (@TSwiftNZ) December 2, 2020
Reynolds and Swift have been friends for quite some time, so it comes as no surprise that Swift agreed to debut her snippet in his commercial. Thankfully, for swifties, she has confirmed more music will be coming out soon!
Make 2020 2021 Your Year
The commercial is worth a watch, even if it’s just to laugh at the chaotic year we have all lived through. Reynolds jokes, “We just imagined what a ‘2020 match’ would look like and this video was the natural, slightly warped result. Also, this stuff gives me something to think about during the board meetings.”
Watching Satan and 2020 travel effortlessly through some very ‘2020 experiences’, like hoarding toilet-paper, is something nobody would have understood a year ago. This year has been especially tough, but it’s always important to get some comedic relief and of course, enjoy some of Taylor Swift’s old tunes.
