Patriotic Advertising: An Opportunity for Resuscitating the Egyptian Economy Rekindling the Egyptian Domestic Brands

Critical national events, such as national crises, threats to national security, or economic downturns, are known to elicit patriotic sentiments among citizens (Yoo, 2015). Advertising themes that emphasize national identities and patriotism reflect a promotional strategy that exploits the concept of consumer nationalism and has been adopted by corporations to promote their products in the local as well as the international markets (Wasswa, 2017).

The significant emotional impact of recent events in Gaza has prompted Egyptian advertisers to use the patriotic message format to elicit favorable consumer responses. In the amidst of such brutal and criminal attack on Gaza, boycotting calls had gone viral, people are genuinely refusing to purchase products from international brands showing support for the Israeli hideous war on Gaza. Patriotism and Arab nation unity have become favorite brand positioning propositions for advertisers in Egypt in the 4th quarter of the year 2023. The aim of this paper is to conceptually explore the concept of patriotism and patriotic advertising, the potential impact of patriotic-themed ads on the Egyptian consumers’ intentions of purchasing domestic products, and what would that entail for the Egyptian economy.

Keywords: Patriotism, Nationalism, Ethnocentrism, Patriotic brand, Patriotic advertising, National identity, Social identity salience, Boycott, domestic brand consumption, economy resuscitation, and job opportunities/ employment rates.