Take a Drink of Sancerre if They Pan to Taylor Swift

The psychology of wine and celebrity endorsements

A woman in her late fifties selects a shopping cart and enters the Salem, Oregon Trader Joe’s. Ignoring the Orange Chicken in frozen foods, passing by the Organic Ethiopian coffee beans, and willing herself past the hand-milled avocado soap stand, she made a beeline for the wine section at the far end of the store.

And there she stood. Staring up at a wall of inexpensive white wines. In the same wine department, one of the more fetching Trader Joe’s mates was stocking $14.00 Napa Valley Syrah in between pouring samples for shoppers. She noticed the woman and saw the familiar wrinkled brow and pursed lips. As any good, fetching mate would, she approached the shopper.

“Can I help you find something? Is there something you are looking for?

And that’s when it all spilled out.

“Well, we are having a Super Bowl Football Day party on Sunday. Everyone is going to be there. But I can’t find what I want. Do you have any ‘Sanser’?”

“ ‘Sancerre’?,” asked the fetching mate?

The shopper continues.

“Yes, that’s it. Did you know that’s Taylor Swift’s favorite wine? That and ‘Pinot Grigio and also Sauvignon Blanc. She said so on ‘Ellen’. I saw a video. Taylor’s dating one of the players on the…on the team playing in the football game. I just love that young woman. Do you have any Sancerre or Sauvignon Blanc I can serve?”

“Well, we don’t have a Sancerre in stock a the moment. I’m sorry. But we do have Pinot Grigio and some Sauvignon Blancs. Let me show you.”

The woman filled up her cart with the Italian white and California Sauvignon Blanc, thanked the fetching, lovely mate who helped her then explained:

“It should be fun. The game we are going to play is that every time they show a shot of Taylor we all have to drink.”

“Well, from what I hear,” said the mate, “you may have to call some Ubers to take everyone home.”

This interaction happened yesterday in the Salem, Oregon Trader Joe’s. I have a feeling it probably happened across the country numerous times over the past few days at thousands of wine sellers. I hadn’t heard of this particular Taylor Swift drinking game. But I’m neither a Taylor nor a football fan.