Before just about anyone in Green Bay knew that Taylor Swift would be in attendance for Sunday's game against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Packers organization reached out to alert Erika Dunne.
After all, special Swift-centric cookies weren't going to make themselves.
Dunne, a resident of tiny Pembine, Wisconsin, roughly an hour from Green Bay, started making designer sugar cookies in 2022 under the name The Tattered Whisk. When she found a good cookie recipe, her artistic ability (and strong business acumen) took over, and she started selling them by the batch.
The eye-catching designs made promotion on social media easy, and a month after she started the business, she contacted the Packers asking if they wanted to partner someone who could make customized cookies for their guests. They did, and Dunne started working with the Packers' catering and hospitality service Delaware North.
A year (and batches of cookies for celebrities like Lil Wayne) later, the organization wanted customized sweets for Swift and Brittany Mahomes, who planned to occupy one of the stadium's suites. Enter Dunne, who was sworn to secrecy.
"I was not allowed to say anything, and I was not allowed to post until after the game," Dunne told Newsweek in a phone interview. "It was very quiet. I delivered, and that was it."
Dunne appreciates that the Packers feel they can trust her with their secrets, and she held off on posting anything until after the game.
Still: "It was cool," Dunne acknowledged. "It was really cool to be one of the only people who knew and got to work on this quietly for her."
Of course, designing a cookie order for one of the most famous people on Earth requires quite a bit of thought. The Packers wanted an order that felt appropriate for the entire party in the suite, not just Swift.
The ensuing batch of 18 cookies included several Swift-specific nods, including Dunne's favorite: A cookie in the shape of a picture frame with an internet-famous photo of Swift kissing a beaming Kelce on the cheek and "T.K + T.S." written at the bottom in the style of Swift's "1989" album art. The Mahomes got similar treatment. There was also a nod to friendship bracelets, an "87" jersey and a "15" jersey, and several other original designs.
"The bottom line is they were both there to support their men and watch the game," Dunne said. "So I really decided that I wanted to go Chiefs-heavy and throw in slight nods to both of them with pictures and customized jerseys and things like that, without over-killing it on the Taylor. It was going to the whole suite at that point, and I didn't want to come across as stalker-ish."
Dunne doesn't consider herself a Swiftie, although she listens to her music.
"I have mad respect for her, though, and her business ethic and what she does," Dunne said. "What she has built is amazing."
Dunne is building something too. A San Diego native, Dunne moved to Wisconsin eight years ago. The 42-year-old mother of seven wanted something "for herself." She watched videos and took an online class to learn the art of making cookies, and she drew on design knowledge gleaned from her mother's artistic abilities.
When The Tattered Whisk began to take off, Dunne converted her exercise room into a cookie room where she does all of her design work. She purchased a $4,000 edible printer that aids in her designs, but she still prefers to hand-draw and paint the cookies herself.
Over the past year and a half, her business has gained more than 3,000 followers on Instagram and (more importantly) a loyal clientele in addition to the Packers that includes local business and real estate agents.
Dunne admitted the first time she spoke to the Packers, she had no idea if she could actually fulfill her lofty promises. The Packers asked what would happen if they ordered 1,500 cookies at once.
"I had just started this business, but I absolutely said, 'Of course. Of course I can,'" Dunne said. "That's just how I am[...]I think you just have to be confident in your product."
So did she get any feedback from Swift? Newsweek has reached out to Swift's representatives by email to ask for cookie comments.
"I know that they took the box with them. I know that she left with them," Dunne said, laughing. "That's kind of cool, for someone that gets kind of anything, to take them with her. At least she took them."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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