A rumor that Coca-Cola ended its partnership with Taylor Swift after she announced that she would vote for Kamala Harris circulated online in mid-September 2024. For example, on Sept. 17, 2024, the American Life Today Facebook page posted the following:
(American Life Today Facebook page)
Variations of the rumor, including one that claimed the partnership was valued at more than $150 million, spread across Facebook. Many of these posts contained links to articles that further explained the story.
Some readers seemed to interpret rumor as a factual recounting of real-life events. However, there was no evidence Coca-Cola had severed ties with Swift after her endorsement. Swift partnered with Diet Coke in 2013, according to a news release from the company.
Instead, the rumor originated on Esspots.com — a website that describes its output as being humorous or satirical in nature. The site's about page begins as follows:
Welcome to the US page of Esspots (A Subsidiary of SpaceXMania.com specializing in Satire and Parody News), your one-stop destination for satirical news and commentary about the United States of America. Our team of writers and editors is dedicated to bringing you the latest and greatest in fake news and absurdity, all with a healthy dose of humor and satire.
On Sept. 14, 2024, the SpaceX Fanclub Facebook page posted the supposed story with a link to the esspots.com satire article. Over the next week, the accompanying headline was copied and pasted across various websites, but without any indication that the post originated as satire.
Snopes has addressed similar satirical claims from Esspots in the past, including the assertion that Swift lost more than $125 million following her endorsement of Harris and a rumor that she had been banned from attending NFL games for being "too distracting."
For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.