What started out as an innocent social media post on a Taylor Swift fan site has turned into a full-blown viral meme.
The hilarious meme in question has inspired a mass uptick in condiment purchases and even an entire business venture for the American food company Heinz. Anyone not in the know might look at “Seemingly Ranch” and scratch their head, so let’s do a deep dive into how this otherwise strange combination of words came to be, what it means, and how it punctured the cultural zeitgeist.
It all started after Taylor ate a piece of fried chicken
Going viral is not a rare occurrence for the 12-time Grammy Award-winning musician, but Taylor’s interaction with one fan in NFL star Travis Kelce’s family suit during the Kansas City Cheifs game at the Arrowhead Stadium — you know, the one that broke the internet — spawned a photo caption that was simply too good to go unaddressed.
“Taylor Swift was eating a piece of chicken with ketchup and seemingly ranch,” the caption read. In the photo, Taylor can be seen with her arm around the happy fan. On the table beside her is a plate with a lone chicken tender, a dollop of ketchup, and a dollop of what can only be described as “seemingly ranch.”
The post acquired 33 million impressions almost overnight and it wasn’t long before the otherwise innocuous combination of words became a cultural reset.
Enter Heinz
You don’t become one of the most popular condiment companies in the U.S. without being business savvy. As soon as Heinz caught wind of the “Seemingly Ranch” phenomenon, it jumped on the bandwagon and announced the release of limited-edition bottles of Ketchup and Seemingly Ranch, a Swiftie-twist on its Kranch flavor of years past.
The company launched a sweepstakes on Instagram giving away 100 bottles of the limited-edition flavor. You’ll notice an artfully placed chicken tender on a single white plate alongside two dollops of ketchup and the new and improved Ketchup + Seemingly Ranch flavor. You can’t say Heinz isn’t smart.
Heinz-owned company Primal Kitchen also got in on the fun, taking the entire moment one step further with not only a bottle of its own version of Seemingly Ranch (a dairy-free, sugar-free, and soy-free concoction for all the healthy Swifties out there) but also an Eras Tour-inspired friendship bracelet with none other than “Seemingly Ranch” beaded into the jewelry.
The cultural impact of Seemingly Ranch
Heinz may be the smartest company for actually following through on a limited edition flavor of Seemingly Ranch, but it was far from the only company, brand, or institution to capitalize on Taylor’s viral moment. When I say Seemingly Ranch reached every corner of society, I mean that literally.
McDonald’s incorporated the meme into its online app so that when customers perused the menu for nuggets, they were assured that while it may be seemingly ranch, it’s “Definitely McNuggets.”
Walmart got crafty with Photoshop and displayed a sign reading Seemingly Ranch above an aisle of ranch dressing in one of its stores.
Arby’s couldn’t pass up on the craze and posted a picture of a lone chicken tender with a side of ketchup and — *puts on glasses* — what looks to be seemingly ranch.
Hidden Valley Ranch even changed its name to Seemingly Ranch on X (aka Twitter). It also came up with a Seemingly Ranch recipe on its website. The instructions go a little something like this: prepare chicken tender, place said tender on a plate, then serve yourself a dollop of ketchup and — *checks notes again* — that’s right, a dollop of seemingly ranch.
The potato chip brand Lay’s used this opportunity to scar us with a Seemingly Ranch flavor that may or may not taste like chicken tenders.
Mrs. Mets of the New York Mets did her best T-Swift impersonation with a hearty cafeteria helping of one chicken tender, a side of ketchup, and a side of presumably, possibly, seemingly ranch.
Just to let us know who’s really boss, Garfield the cat swiped a piece of chicken off Jonathan’s plate, which, if we’re not mistaken, had ketchup and (seemingly) ranch on it.
Because the viral moment occurred on the cusp of spooky season, Chucky took it upon himself to educate us on the nutritional benefits of ranch — whatever that is — and Seemingly Blood.
The Empire State Building — yes, really — knows that Seemingly Ranch comes in all shapes and sizes. It’s not all about food folks. Buildings have feelings too.
To bring it back to football — like we were ever here for that — the NFL made Seemingly Ranch a part of its daily workflow.
And perhaps the biggest indicator of Taylor’s reach, Seemingly Ranch even found its way into the American education system.
The moral of the story is that Taylor Swift is Queen, Seemingly Ranch rules the world, and sooner or later a Taylor song containing the lyrics “Seemingly Ranch” will obliterate the Billboard Top 100. I will bet my life on it.