When Taylor Swift’s fans love something, they love it intensely and put their hard-earned dollars behind it.
This week, the popstar’s fanbase went wild for a T-shirt Swift was seen wearing in the making of her music video “The Fate of Ophelia,” which was shared in her “Release Party of a Showgirl” film.
How Taylor Swift fans raised $2.2 million for otters
The T-shirt in question? A Monterey Bay Aquarium shirt with an encyclopedia-style illustrated graphic for sea otters.
After the “Release Party of a Showgirl” film premiered, the Monterey Bay Aquarium was flooded with questions regarding the shirt, so they tracked down the original artwork from 1993 to print a new batch and sold them as part of a limited time fundraising campaign for a minimum donation of $65.13, with the extra 13 cents as a nod to Swift’s favorite number.
The orders continue flowing in, and the campaign surpassed its $1.3 million goal in just under seven hours, according to Rolling Stone.
As of Friday afternoon, the campaign has reached more than $2.2 million, with the demand so high that orders placed now will be placed on back order.
“We were in the archives, digging through. We were contacting former aquarium staff members, all trying to find out more,” Liz MacDonald, one of the Swiftie masterminds behind getting the shirt, told KSBW. “And then, of course, all the Swifties online were also doing their own sleuthing. And I think it was really a whole group effort to bring the aquarium and Liberty Graphics together so that we could make this happen.”
Why was Taylor Swift wearing an otter shirt?
Back in August, Swift was on the “New Heights” podcast hosted by her fiance, Travis Kelce, and his brother, Jason Kelce. During the podcast, Swift joked about Kelce’s obsession with otters.
“I want a wild otter so bad,” the Kansas City Chiefs tight end said during the podcast.
Swift explained how a lot of Kelce’s social media feeds are dedicated to the furry little creatures because he loves them so much.