October 27, 2023 was a very big day for fans of Taylor Swift who have been waiting for the release of 1989 (Taylor's Version) ever since the announcement back in August, and the rerecorded versions of songs like "Blank Space," "Wildest Dreams," and "Bad Blood" will undoubtedly be on repeat for plenty of listeners over the coming days. Nat Geo is already making the most of the 1989 buzz with promotion for its docuseries about the year, and I'm in love with the puns that were used in the social media post and the announcement.
The official X (formerly Twitter) account for Nat Geo posted to hype 1989 (National Geographic's Version) as a rebranding the six-part 1989: The Year That Made Us docuseries that originally released back in 2019. Taylor Swift's album in honor of the year released in 2014, so it technically predated the Nat Geo series, but the wordplay was saved for Taylor's Version. This may not be the equivalent of Swift unlocking her vault, but take a look at the new post hyping the docuseries:
1989 (National Geographic's Version)Nice to meet you, where you been? 💛 We can show you incredible things: https://t.co/Y1aFWP89dv pic.twitter.com/SxDNk6mgxNOctober 27, 2023
Nat Geo may not have been able to actually play any of Taylor Swift's music in the clip promoting 1989 (The Year That Made Us), but whoever wrote the tweet made sure to include some lyrics from "Blank Space," which of course was one of her biggest hits from this particular album. It's also not the only way that the network channeled the Swiftie spirit to spread the news about the docuseries.
In the official press release, 1989 (Nat Geo's Version) was hyped as having "Style You Couldn't Shake Off," as it tells the story of a "year you couldn't imagine in your wildest dreams." There was some "bad blood" in 1989, according to the announcement, with Nat Geo saying "don't say we didn't warn you" and "we wish you would" stream the six episodes with a Hulu subscription. The announcement even said "We know you love the players, and they love the game."
Was it the most natural wordplay? Maybe not, but it certainly spiced up the news about 1989: The Year That Made Us! The docuseries includes celebrities such as Kevin Smith, Chuck D, James Brooks, Connie Chung, and Larry King looking back at the last year of the '80s that ushered in a great deal of change in the '90s and beyond. This includes everything from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the Tiananmen Square protests to the birth of the World Wide Web. Taylor's Version of 1989 may have had a "glow up," but it wasn't rereleased with any ballads about the Berlin Wall, so you may want to check out the series!
And even if you don't subscribe to Hulu, you can find the first full episode – called "A World in Revolution" – streaming on YouTube now. Take a look:
You can stream all six episodes of 1989: The Year That Made Us on Hulu now if you missed the series the first time around. At 22 minutes each, you can binge-watch every episode in less time than it would take to listen to 1989 (Taylor's Version) twice in a row, and I'd be extremely surprised if Swifties haven't been doing just that with the album rerelease ever since it became available.
