Today is Friday the 13th, one of the most feared days of the year due to a history of associating Friday and the number 13 with very bad things. However, there's one person who probably can't wait for Friday the 13th to roll around: Taylor Swift.
In fact, today is an exciting day for Swift, who just released the music video for "Style," her third single off of her latest album 1989. The video has a very "high-end fragrance commercial directed by James Franco" type of vibe. But on to more pressing matters: Why would Swift choose what's said to be one of the unluckiest days to unleash her new creative venture out into the world? Is it all just a coincidence? I think not.
Swift is actually kind of obsessed with the number 13. She told MTV News in 2009 that 13 is her lucky number. As we all know, lucky numbers can be very powerful things. Humans have prized certain numbers since ancient times with the Babylonians revering the number 60 and the Egyptians having an affinity for the number 12. Today, people's lucky numbers can depend on anything from their culture to how divisible they are to their birthdays.
That last point is part of the reason why 13 is so special to Swift. She was born on Dec. 13, 1989. However, that number has also popped up many times throughout her life.
"I was born on the 13th. I turned 13 on Friday the 13th. My first album went gold in 13 weeks. My first #1 song had a 13-second intro," Swift told MTV News in 2009. "Every time I've won an award I've been seated in either the 13th seat, the 13th row, the 13th section or row M, which is the 13th letter."
Swift also used to write the number 13 on her hand during performances. The number is also a part of her Twitter handle, @taylorswift13. The standard edition of 1989 also has 13 tracks.
Unfortunately, the number 13 hasn't always been kind to Swift. Last spring, the singer was sued by Blue Sphere, Inc., which owns a clothing brand called Lucky 13 for trademark infringement for using the phrase "Lucky 13" to sell merchandise in a promotion with American Greetings. Swift seems to be very savvy about the copyright game, so maybe she should have known better.
Anticipation for Swift's "Style" video was high throughout the week as a trending topic on Twitter before its premiere today. With the Internet buzzing about the video now, we can probably expect its currently 220,000-plus views on YouTube to climb in no time. Swift's March 2015 cover of Vogue with bestie supermodel Karlie Kloss was also eerily unveiled today.
All of these career moves occurring on the 13th could be just a coincidence, but knowing the PR mastermind that is Swift, I wouldn't be surprised if it was all a part of a plan to continue to make the number 13 a part of her brand. Either way, it's working.
