A University of Tennessee professor has gone viral after appearing to cancel class in the wake of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s engagement, only to reveal it was all a staged lesson in public relations.
Taylor Swift’s engagement announcement shattered Instagram, pulling in over 30.5 million likes in 24 hours and cementing itself among the 20 most-liked posts ever.
Matthew Pittman, an advertising and PR professor, seized on the moment. In a clip now making the rounds online, he dramatically ended class early once the news broke.
“Taylor and Travis just got engaged,” Pittman told students. “Due to this information, I can’t focus, you all can’t focus. Class is canceled, get outta here. We need time to process this information.”
Students rushed out of the lecture hall, with one even sprinting for the door. In an alternate angle, two classmates jumped for joy, threw books in the air, and spun around. The footage quickly blew up online.
“And just like that, he became the favorite professor,” one viewer joked. “He deserves a wedding invite,” another wrote. Not everyone was amused, with critics saying they’d pull their kids from school if this happened in real life.
Professor fakes canceling class over Taylor Swift engagement in viral PR stunt
But Pittman later explained the stunt was intentional. In a follow-up video, he said the bit was designed to show how social media reacts to major cultural moments.
“This is pretty big news,” he explained, predicting Swift and Kelce’s engagement post could have been “the number one shared post in the history of social media” within 24 hours.
While that didn’t quite happen, Pittman pointed out the timing of the announcement was key, landing just before the NFL season begins, when Swift fatigue among some fans tends to spike.
Swift and Kelce’s engagement comes only weeks after her New Heights appearance with the Chiefs star shattered YouTube’s podcast record for concurrent viewers.
For Pittman, the viral “class canceled” clip doubled as a reminder of why viewers should be wary about believing everything they see online and how even professors can pull off a pretty effective marketing stunt.
