Haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, but Air Force Academy Cadet Brett Hagen just pulled out all the stops in his effort to get a date with pop superstar Taylor Swift.
Rising junior Hagen on Wednesday posted a music video on YouTube asking Swift to go to the academy's 2016 Ring Dance with him. Hagen wrote the song's original lyrics and used the instrumental version of Swift's hit "Shake It Off" as a backing track.
"Every pretty girl needs to go to a ball," Hagen said at the end of the video.
The academy holds its Ring Dance during graduation week each year to honor juniors who are about to become seniors. Cadets and members of the military wear their mess dress — which Hagen wears in the video — and civilian attendees wear black tie or a suit and tie, or a formal or semiformal gown or dress.
In the video, Hagen referred to the coup Marine Staff Sgt. Scott Moore pulled off when he got movie star Mila Kunis to attend the 2011 Marine Corps Birthday Ball with him, using a similar viral video tactic. Justin Timberlake also attended that ball with Marine Cpl. Kelsey De Santis.
"Like, how the flip do you do that though? Seriously?" Hagen said of the Mila Kunis date.
But Moore's video was nowhere near as elaborate as Hagen's four-minute video, which makes multiple references to Swift songs, name checks singer Ed Sheeran and even mocks the infamous "I'm gonna let you finish" Kanye West incident.
In the video, Hagen self-deprecatingly references his "Ramen noodle budget" and says he spent half his paycheck on the video.
And if she says no, Hagen will just have to shake it off.
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.
