A T-shirt worn by Taylor Swift sparks a $2M windfall for sea otters

By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ
Associated Press

San Francisco (AP) — A Northern California aquarium has raised more than $2 million for sea otter conservation in just two days. All it took was Taylor Swift wearing a vintage T-shirt.

Swift wore a vintage Monterey Bay Aquarium otter conservation T-shirt in a release party movie for her new “The Life of a Showgirl” album, sending her ardent fans on a quest to buy the shirt last produced in the 1990s. After the aquarium was flooded with calls about buying the T-shirt showing two otters floating on their back, it decided to re-release the garment Thursday as part of a special campaign to raise $1.3 million, a nod to Swift’s favorite number, said Liz MacDonald, the aquarium’s director of content strategy.

The aquarium met and surpassed its goal to raise the funds for its sea otter conservation program in less than eight hours, averaging about $100,000 in sales every 15 minutes, MacDonald said. Donors who give at least $65.13 to its newest fundraising campaign to help injured and orphan otters will be mailed a T-shirt, MacDonald said.

“We definitely had a little Taylor Swift dance party in the office yesterday afternoon when we hit the goal,” she said.

The aquarium began accepting back-orders and by Friday afternoon it had raised more than $2 million, according to its website.

How Swift acquired the T-Shirt that was last produced more than 32 years ago — when she was just 3 years old — remains a mystery.

She and fiancé Travis Kelce have been documented visiting nearby Carmel, but MacDonald said the aquarium is not aware of the couple having been in their shop.

MacDonald said the staff has had fun speculating about Swift’s interest in the T-shirt.

When Taylor announced the release of her new album on Kelce’s podcast “New Heights” a couple of weeks ago, the couple had a little banter about how he loves otters and loves sending her videos of the furry sea creatures.

“One of my favorite theories is that we have a sea otter on our exhibit whose name is Opal and she was named by the fans through an online poll, and I wonder if Taylor Swift may have been one of the people that voted for the name Opal,” MacDonald said, adding that opal is Kelce’s birthstone and that Opalite is the name of one of Swift’s songs.

Whatever the reason, the aquarium and Liberty Graphics, an employee-owned company printing the T-shirts, are reveling in the moment.

“They’re a company based in Maine who were as taken by surprise as us, but who are also as delighted to have this opportunity to be part of this amazing moment that does so much for sea otters and for ocean conservation,” MacDonald said.

Liberty Graphics will use 100% cotton in the T-shirts and water-based ink, which is more ocean-friendly and sustainable, she said.

“We’re also working to make sure that the packaging doesn’t use plastic,” she added.

The company of 50 employees normally produces 1,500 shirts a day, said Matt Enos, a company manager.

Enos said that beginning Monday the company will probably have to focus most of its resources on fulfilling T-shirt orders from Swifties.

“We definitely didn’t envision something this big but it’s a pretty good problem to have,” he said.