- H&R Block gave its Kansas City employees the afternoon off after billionaire pop icon Taylor Swift announced her engagement to Super Bowl star Travis Kelce this Tuesday. The $6.6 billion company shared a viral email that read, “Celebrate love. Speculate about the dress,” letting employees off for the afternoon. The post joined a wave of playful brand reactions, from Krispy Kreme to Buffalo Wild Wings, all tapping into the viral moment and power of Swiftonomics.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s engagement didn’t just break the internet—it paused the workday for thousands at H&R Block’s Kansas City headquarters.
“Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married,” billionaire popstar Taylor Swift said in her viral engagement post on Instagram, which has raked up 33 million likes so far. For Swifites, the world stopped when Kelce popped the big question with an estimated $550,000 ring—and for some lucky employees, their work tasks did, too.
To celebrate the Grammy-award winner’s engagement to the Super Bowl champion, one H&R Block in Kansas City let employees off the hook this past Tuesday afternoon to celebrate.
“Let’s be honest: between checking social feeds, debating potential wedding playlists, and most importantly—telling your friends what married filing jointly means, I know focus is in short supply this afternoon,” the company’s chief people officer wrote to staff in an email that it has since shared on Instagram.
“So here’s the deal: if you’re so inclined, call it early. Go home. Celebrate love. Speculate about the dress. Argue whether the reception will be held in KC or a castle in Europe,” she added. “Pick things back up tomorrow when the internet calms down.”
The company confirmed to Fortune that a few thousand employees were given the afternoon off work.
Brands across social media rush to market
It perhaps makes sense that this office of the $6.6 billion tax services company let a portion of its 70,000-strong workforce (when including seasonal contract staff), skive work to celebrate the celebrity engagement; Its headquarters is also home to Swift’s new fiancé, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
“At H&R Block, we’re proud to call Kansas City home. When something exciting happens here—especially something that brings joy and pride to our city—we love to celebrate with our people,” Tiffany Monroe, Chief People and Culture Officer at H&R Block tells Fortune.
“Giving employees a few hours to enjoy the news was a fun, lighthearted way to join in an event that truly captured the hearts of Kansas Citians and fans nationwide.”
But actually, H&R block wasn’t the only corporate company to rush online to highlight the power couple’s good news. Other brands treated the engagement as a golden PR opportunity to have a personal moment with consumers, offering discounts and humorous jokes to gain brand traction.
Olipop, the healthy prebiotic soda company, recently posted on Instagram, “In honor of our fave English and Gym teachers tying the knot, we’re giving all our Team Tayvis fans out there an extra 13% off any subscription order… FOREVER.”
“FREE doughnuts for the class” Krispy Kreme Donuts posted on X. And casual American restaurant chain, Buffalo Wild Wings, wrote on X: “WE WILL CATER THE WEDDING”
