Who Owns Canadian Nationalism?
Have you seen advertisements cashing in on our patriotic surge? I'd like to know. Also, a big, related announcement.
I’m writing a book about nationalism in Canada. It’s timely. The rise in nationalist sentiment since Donald Trump’s second inauguration has been extraordinary, and it deserves a (critical) look. So too does the history of the phenomenon in Canada, its origins, uses, and abuses. The book’s release date is to be determined, based on my capacity to research, interview, and write it while doing my day job, but it’s in the works. The publisher is Biblioasis, an absolute gem. I am very excited, and will probably do a Subtack pre-sale deal sooner rather than later.
Why nationalism? Well, it’s inherently interesting. It’s complex, too. There are varieties: left, right, civic, ethnic. There are different, competing definitions. There are benign, if cloying, manifestations and malignant ones. As a sentiment and a commitment, it’s important to examine and understand nationalism since it’s also a kind of currency that can be spent, or a force that can be mobilized, and not necessarily for good. Indeed, nationalism is often mobilized to no small destructive end. Some argue nationalism is inherently bad or, at least, suspect. And right now, Canada is lousy with the stuff — and advertisements looking to capitalize on it.
I’ve been managing burn out for the last several weeks — I know, great time to write a book — and so I’ve been taking short breaks to watch old shows on a streaming service while building Lego at my desk. I’ve also been watching a lot of hockey, as the Ottawa Charge made a run in the PWHL playoffs. That means I’ve seen a tonne of ads lately.
Watching, I’ve noticed an uptick in nationalist-inspired commercials and other ads: Tim Hortons (naturally), Quaker Oats, and Pizza Pizza stood out to me. Each was keen to highlight some bit of Canada: its hallmarks, its tropes, its institutions, whatever. On the boards of the rink during game 3 of the Charge-Frost final, in Minnesota, the TSN broadcast featured digital ads highlighting how Pizza Pizza was “Actually Canadian.” I guess as opposed to being figuratively Canadian? We ordered sandwiches.
I mention all of this for two reasons. I’m compiling a list of nationalist-inspired ads for book research. If you’ve seen any, please leave a comment under this piece or send me a message through the button below to let me know. If you’ve managed to nab a screenshot or photo, all the better. Either way, I’d be grateful for your help.
The other reason I’m writing about this is because the free market’s embrace of — or increased enthusiasm for — Canadian nationalism is itself an interesting phenomenon insofar as it represents the commodification of sentiment that may have both economic and political effects. This isn’t a new practice. But the speed and scale of it has been remarkable, both online and offline. The sheer gall of the advertisers in some instances, like foreign multinationals hopping on the bandwagon, has been entertaining — if that’s the right word. The broader economic effect is also fascinating, as consumer sentiment is shaping, and being captured. Some entertainment companies, such as Corus, are even seeing a possible revenue increase from the trend.
One immediate takeaway from the nationalist ad blitz is that just about anything can be hijacked and commodified for profit in a market system — and therefore will be, under the right conditions. If the phenomenon is heavily laden with emotion, all the better for the advertisers. We’re all chasing, and buying, a feeling, right? And people love to feel that they’re part of something, including a crowd or, better yet, a movement. Buying 100% Canadian pizza is a patriotic act!
I don’t inherently hate ads, not reflexively at least, as some do. I hate being constantly bombarded by them when I’m out to watch a movie or a hockey game, but my irritation is less a function of them being ads and more one of their being so many of them. In the case of ads capitalizing on nationalist sentiment, I’m more curious: do they work? At scale? Do consumers interrogate, at all, the complexities of these companies trying to manipulate them or sell them a saccharine sense of belonging, especially if they’re foreign, even American, companies? Is that not at least a little bit funny? Not haha funny, maybe, but funny nonetheless.
The rise of nationalist-inspired ads also reflects a struggle over who gets a piece of this moment, to what end, and in what form. Companies trying to make a buck off flag wavers isn’t mutually exclusive with other mobilizations of nationalism, but their specific constructions of Canada may be at odds with other, especially more critical, iterations. No company is running feel-good ads on hallway medicine, for instance. No company is trying to get you to buy pizza by reminding you that millions of flag-waving, pepperoni loving, good ol’ folks are one or two paycheques away from destitution. No company is trying to induce a warm, fuzzy feeling by saying their local chain coffee outlet is on unceded Indigenous land. Those would be pretty…ineffective ads.
Differing conceptions or mobilizations of Canadian nationalism may not be zero-sum as such, but they could be as they compete for our attention and our understanding of what Canada is, what it means, how it works, and what we should do about it. If we believe in the Norman Rockwell North (who would that be?) version of Canada fed to us by a coffee chain, does that make us less willing to recognize and address our serious and persistent shortcomings as a country? I’ve ordered my 100% actually Canadian pizza, what else do you expect me to do?
I don’t have any other hard conclusions at this point. I’ll reach more later, but for now I’m genuinely curious what readers of this newsletter are seeing and how you feel about it. Are you motivated to buy Canadian? Does an ad induce a purchase if it’s nationalist-coded? I’d be so happy to hear from you on this in the comments or by message, too. It’s early days in the book writing process, but those days are marked by absolute openness and curiosity. I’m trying to learn as much as I can and to get a broad picture of the terrain before I start narrowing things down in service of writing particular chapters on this or that. To that end, I’m keen to hear from you, and I can’t wait to share this book with you when it’s out.
I'm old enough to remember the now-almost-extinct Left/liberal strains of Canadian nationalism from the late 60s into the 70s that influenced me during my formative years: the Committee for an Independent Canada, the Waffle, the push to Canadianize our universities by restricting hiring via the American & Brit old boys' networks etc. There was also an influential Tory nationalist strain intermingled during those times (esp. George Grant).
What these influences had in common, in varying degrees, was a critical element, i.e. that Canadian independence was a Good Thing, but only if we used it to raise the bar on how we treated each other through improvements to social and environmental programs. Flag-waving on its own didn't cut it.
Something that I haven't seen adequately discussed is how these strains of Canadian nationalism co-existed (or not) with Quebec's rising sovereigntist movement during that era. I confess that I got to be rather impatient with the latter's self-absorption - did they really believe that they could carve out a linguistic and cultural island that would have any staying power in an American-dominated continent without Canadian federalism as an insulating buffer? For me, the last straw was Quebec's massive vote for Mulroney's free trade deal in the 1988 election - without that, he would have lost and we might have been spared the subsequent ~ 30 years of continental integration. (Although Turner's 1988 nationalist blip might not have had much staying power against the Liberal tendency to revert to continentalism.)
Good luck with your book project!
Ended up here after reading the edited version of this article in The Walrus. Congratulations on your feature and on your forthcoming book with Biblioasis! Will be keeping an eye out for it.