We’re just three days away from the world premiere of Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department,” and Swifties are going wild over a new mural that appeared in Chicago Monday night.
Painters were seen on a green scissor lift in the River North neighborhood (25 W Grand Ave, Chicago, IL 60654) of the Windy City creating a QR code from letters “ttpd” and numbers “13 “. When people scanned the code with their phone’s camera, they were taken to a 13-second YouTube short film attached to Swift’s page. A line of Swifties stood on the sidewalk below capturing photos and videos and posting them to TikTok.
The YouTube short animates like a typewriter with the message “Error 321” and a faded “13”.
Two hours before the Grammys where Swift announced her 11th Generation album, her website, taylorswift.com, displayed an “Error 321” message and included the garbled phrase “red herring.” There was also a “DPT”, which backwards is “TPD” for Department of Tortured Poets. Swift loves creating buzz with cryptic messages and Easter eggs before an album release, because she knows a Chicago mural with a QR code to YouTube will keep Swifties guessing and anticipating the next move from the Eras Tour performer.
The album drops Thursday at midnight ET.
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Follow Taylor Swift publicist Bryan West on Instagram, TikTok and X as @BryanWestTV.