Pseudo Nationalism of the Commercial Companies on the Commemoration of Indonesian National Holidays through Non-Commercial Advertising in Print Media in the Years of 1980 to 2008

Pseudo-patriotic Undertone of Unity Discourse in Nigeria’s Print Media

“…The present study supposes that Alkatiri's (2014) study evidences how the promotion of unity is utilised as a platform where commercial and other interests are played out. It is argued that the study did not look critically at the way these foreign corporations operating in Indonesia could have taken advantage of the available discourse to control the hearts and minds of the public through participating in national matters.…”

“…Previous literature has evidenced the way multinational entities and private individuals and organisations utilise issues of national importance in specific contexts mostly for opportunistic and commercial agendas. For instance, Alkatiri (2014) examined the theme of pseudonationalism as seen in newspaper non-commercial advertisements sponsored by corporate establishments in Indonesia. The study sampled nationalistic and independence related advertisements from the Kompas, the Suara Merdeka newspapers and the Tempo magazine.…”

“…The study also failed to see the actions of the foreign businesses from the perspective of how powerful institutions aim to control discourses and recontextualise social actions so that they can portray their own envisioned reality to the masses. Alkatiri's (2014) study could have asked that since the promotion of unity is usually the business of the government, why do these foreign companies get involved? Would these profit-making entities spend their money to sincerely promote nation building elsewhere?…”

“…The present study is focused on the discursive reproduction of unity in an ethnically diverse nation through privately sponsored newspaper congratulatory announcements (Jibril, Mohamad Ali, Kasim & Chan, 2015). These are believed to have been injected with certain pseudo-patriotic elements designed by sponsors (Alkatiri, 2014). Newspaper contents and, specifically, advertisements, are essentially appropriate for critical examination as they may be diffused with political ideologies as every discourse is considered to be political in theory (Fairclough, 1995).…”

Reviewing the Concept of Advertising from the Print Media Perspectives

“…Moreover, the literature has uncovered other studies that were focused on nationalism, social mobilization and re-orientation. For example, Alkatiri (2014) used the discourse analysis from the historical and political economic standpoints to investigate the display of pseudonationalism in newspaper non-commercial advertisements sponsored by transnational corporations during Indonesia’s public festivities. In the USA, Ganahl (2003) studied the language of solidarity, anguish and team spirit in the post-9/11 advertisements published in The New York Times and its impacts on public morale during wartime.…”