Ranking Every Dap-Up in Travis Kelce’s Tommy Hilfiger Ad

Travis Kelce is one step closer to paying off his Madison Square Garden tab with his new gig as Tommy Hilfiger’s global brand ambassador for the label’s fall 2026 campaign. And the Kansas City Chiefs player and newly minted Husband of Pop Music has a very hands-on approach to representing the brand. In the new ad, Kelce runs into some famous faces as he arrives at New York’s iconic Plaza Hotel. It’s like if Eloise were six-five. He spends the minute-and-a-half ad running into the likes of Gigi Hadid, Jisoo, Peggy Gou, Frances Tiafoe, and Carmelo Anthony as Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley’s 1978 cover of “New York Groove” plays. I guess he couldn’t swing the rights to “Welcome to New York”? But the biggest cameo might just be the reveal of his fluffy white Samoyed that he shares with his wife, noted cat person and Cats star Taylor Swift. According to Forbes, the new pup is named Wendy, perhaps after Swift’s love of singing about Peter Pan … or maybe Travis really likes a Frosty. In any case, Wendy is one of the few not to receive a dap-up.

But not all of Kelce’s dap-ups are created equal. He’s a man of style. Some of the greetings in the ad are simply a normal fist bump, others come close to being a full-blown secret handshake, and then there’s the classic — which routinely sends my body into fight-or-flight the moment I realize a straight man is expecting more than a normal handshake from my limp, fearful hand. Let’s rank all of the dap-ups (and the like) that appear in the new Hilfiger ad, on a scale of BRO to BROOOO. 

4. Travis Kelce & Gigi Hadid

Trav breaks out the classic fist bump when he runs into his wife’s bestie and former Girl Squad member, Gigi Hadid, as she comes out of the Plaza’s elevator (sans Bradley Cooper). As the doors open, they both put their acting chops on display as they feign surprise, before she dances away with her wired headphones like she’s in a mid-aughts iPod commercial. Do you think she’s listening to TS13? Or maybe just the Toy Story 5 song. Travis doesn’t ask; instead he wanders through the kitchen of the Plaza for some reason.

Rating: BRO

3. Travis Kelce & Tommy Hilfiger

When Travis exits the Plaza to take a stroll past Central Park, probably hoping to stumble across the Pigeon Lady from Home Alone 2, he instead runs into another icon. Tommy Hilfiger himself pulls up in a taxicab — what a serendipitous coincidence! Travis saunters over to dap him up through the cab’s open window, but this one has its own special, age-gap flair. Hilfiger clasps Travis’s hand as if they’re about to arm wrestle, and the dap turns into a handshake of sorts, before they release and the designer invites Travis along for the ride.

Rating: BROO

2. Frances Tiafoe & Carmelo Anthony

Poor KillaTrav. These two share a beautiful, bro-y dap-up while he’s sitting right there at the table, left out. But he doesn’t let that get him down. Because to Travis, a dap-up is just as beautiful to spectate as it is to perform. For their part, the two athletes’ greeting ends in a hug. Love is love. 

Rating: BROOO

Travis Kelce & Peggy Gou

It’s the first dap-up of the ad, and it’s the best one. Travis goes big. He stretches out his arms as he walks up to South Korean DJ and singer Peggy Gou, an old friend of his surely — but don’t be fooled, he’s not going in for a hug. Instead, a slap and then reverse-slap of their hands turns to a fist-on-top-of-fist bump, which then wraps up with a classic knuckle tap. It was like watching Annie and her butler reunite in The Parent Trap. If someone tried doing this complex, multistep performance of masculinity with me, especially without time to rehearse, both my brain and body would short-circuit before permanently shutting down. But it’s just proof that to Travis Kelce, the dap-up is a blank canvas to expound upon to express himself. It’s not just a dap — it can be so much more.

Rating: BROOOO