Buy Me, I’m Patriotic: When Pride Gets a Price Tag
- Mai Thu Duong
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
Patriotism is a beautiful sentiment, and few moments make it more tangible than the days leading up to a national celebration. Clearl, we see love for one’s country materialized in flags, decorations, and products that exude a sense of pride. As I was away from home, my country, Vietnam, I only got to experience these displays of love through many a picture on social media: Streets lined with flags, cafés serving drinks topped with miniature banners, or bakeries decorating cakes with patriotic colors. It’s wonderful to see my country thrive with joy and have these great images among ourselves, and even better, showcase them to tourists who just happen to be in the country during this period.
Yet, beneath this vibrancy, I started to notice how patriotism was increasingly entangled with commercial strategies. This phenomenon has slowly become recognized as “Commercialized Patriotism”. What began as shirts, hats, and small keepsakes evolved into products marked up simply because they carried a flag. The sight of flags and emblems adorning everything from storefronts to everyday products reflects both a genuine affection for the nation, and growing culture of consumerism that surrounds it.
Then, what does it mean, when patriotism takes on such a visible, purchasable form? The answer floats at the intersection of celebration, commerce, and identity.
The Appeal
“National identities produce consumption behaviors, and consumption behaviors produce or enact national identities” (Spielmann et al., 2020). This type of relationship has been discussed, but is rather limited through the discourse of business and sales, and not analysed from a political viewpoint. The same article argues that “[C]onsumers use patriotic products (like flags on shirts, food packaging, etc.) to visually and symbolically connect with their country. Moreover, the comparison between everyday, subtle patriotic consumption (e.g., wearing a domestic brand, using a national product) versus more dramatic displays (e.g., buying official merchandise during national events)…” is also enlightening on how consumers' behaviors are manipulated through tactics of pride. From the surface, it’s rather endearing to see this phenomenon.
For instance, the recent National Day holiday of Vietnam, a four-day break from August 30 to September 2, gave a significant boost to the country’s tourism industry in both domestic and international visitors. This surge contributed to accelerating the sector’s post-pandemic recovery and growth. (Vietnam News, 2025). The appeal of these holidays has been one of the driving forces in drawing more international interests.
However, beneath the joy, the increasing commodification of patriotism raises important questions about authenticity and intent, questions worth examining before pride becomes something to purchase rather than to feel.
When Pride Becomes Blind
Patriotic products and symbols may look harmless, but when consumed excessively, they risk turning pride into performance. Buying shirts, flags, or themed merchandise shifts from being an expression of genuine connection to one’s country into a visible test of loyalty. This is reinforced by sellers who exploit patriotism through manipulative marketing lines such as, “If you don’t own this, you are not a true Vietnamese.”
Such rhetoric creates the “threat” of exclusion for those who don’t participate in this consumer ritual, including minorities or people with alternative perspectives, and should be frowned upon and boycotted. It is important to purchase and sell these products with respect. They are simply meant to celebrate the country and promote unity among its people and tourists alike. The gratification of the buyers' desire for possession and pride comes later on, and the market seems to have taken advantage of this while neglecting other factors.
In Vietnam, access to information is still heavily distorted by the ‘gossip culture’ and ‘herd mentality’ of many people, often leading to negative consequences that are difficult to quantify. Understanding this principle, certain types of mass media have exploited curiosity, turned ‘word-of-mouth culture’ and ‘herd mentality’ into tools, and in some cases even transformed patriotism into an effective means of immediate business exploitation..." (Huong, 2014, para. 4)
Internationally, the danger is different but just as real. To outsiders, an overabundance of patriotic merchandising might risk looking like exaggerated, performative nationalism.
Simple items like shirts or flags are not inherently problematic. What raises concern are deliberately manufactured products, such as curated “patriotic boxes” filled with impractical or decorative items designed only for short-term display.
These commodified goods capitalize on people’s love for their country, encouraging purchase through visual appeal while deepening a cycle of pride that risks becoming blind devotion. What locals view as a celebration might strike foreigners as superficial branding or even propaganda. This dilutes the authenticity of national pride and risks shaping the country’s image in unintended ways.
Between Pride and Performance
Although I have discussed the risks, from a visitor’s perspective, this trend has not yet grown into a major issue. Still, it is increasingly alarming to see how sellers exploit pride and loyalty for profit. Patriotism can slip into nationalism quickly, especially if products are marketed in ways that equate consumption with love of country. Hypothetically, if a campaign were to suggest that not buying an item means one is less patriotic, the consequences could be damaging domestically and internationally.
For instance, Pekkanen and Penttila (2020) carried out an analysis suggesting that campaigns linking patriotism to consumerism can cause damaging consequences by creating social pressure, potentially alienating citizens who cannot afford or choose not to buy the item, and negatively affecting the nation's international image. As their research focuses on the rising purchases of domestic products, the same sentiment can be applied to products that hold patriotic-oriented visual. It is important, then, to remain aware of this phenomenon and resist the urge to associate pride with purchase. For the sake of honest patriotism, people’s integrity, and the authenticity of the country’s image, consuming with knowledge and personal motivation is highly encouraged in Vietnam and other countries.
Nations should embrace the aesthetics of pride, but they must also move beyond products to reflect the deeper, more complex realities of the country. Patriotism should not be measured by the number of flags or decorations one owns.
It should be expressed through meaningful actions that strengthen and support the nation. For sellers, profiting from decorative goods risks undermining the very values of love and loyalty they claim to promote. Pride should extend beyond the fleeting timeframe of national holidays into everyday practice, with moderate enthusiasm.
When decorative goods are overproduced and over-consumed, the consequences are twofold: politically, such consumption encourages shallow, performative displays of loyalty; environmentally, it creates waste that contradicts the ideals of care and responsibility. Patriotism remains a genuine celebration only when it resists becoming a spectacle. In writing this, I hope that for the upcoming holidays, fewer businesses will refrain from profiting from the country’s flag, and people will be less amused with those who still insist on being performative on these days.
Bibliography
Nguyen, Duc Huong (2014). Do not “exploit” patriotism. https://vneconomy.vn/khong-duoc-kinh-doanh-long-yeu-nuoc.htm
Pekkanen, Tiia-Lotta & Penttilä, Visa. (2020). The responsibility of an ethnocentric consumer – nationalistic, patriotic or environmentally conscientious? A critical discourse analysis of “buy domestic” campaigns. International Marketing Review. ahead-of-print. 10.1108/IMR-06-2019-0163.
Spielmann, N., Maguire, J.S., & Charters, S. (2020). Product patriotism: How consumption practices make and maintain national identity. Journal of Business Research, 121, 389-399.
Viet Nam News (2025). Vietnam’s tourism booms over National holiday. https://vietnamnews.vn/life-style/1724573/viet-nam-s-tourism-booms-over-national-day-holiday.html
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