• The All-American Couple Goes Platinum: The Public Relations Campaign of the NFL, Taylor Swift, and Travis Kelce

Like the increasingly digitalized new media landscape they have emerged in, the publics at the heart of public relations have undergone adaptations. In turn, the public relations campaigns deployed in service of individual and corporate brands to target these audiences have also been adapted. And yet, while this mutually informed adaptation is exemplified by the public relations relationship, this public relations tool is largely understudied. Using the relationship between the National Football League and Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce as a case study, this essay aims to examine the operation of public relations relationships across new media. From this position, the essay establishes the relationship as a contemporary public relations campaign and examines its utility for each of the involved stakeholders. It uses framing theory, search engine optimization, and public relations media types to analyze the impact and role of digital media websites and platforms as public relations tools. The paper’s findings highlight the potential influence of pseudo-events on search engines along with the non-neutral and malleable nature of search engines. Beyond their immediate applicability to the field of public relations, these findings have greater implications for the operation of the public sphere.