Semi-essay numbered list longpost on why I believe that the DRAAG National Team merch is unappealing, tasteless, possibly offensive, and just generally like so fucking strange ā and why I think itās important to acknowledge that:
Firstly: I donāt think itās bad if you want/buy any of the merch. I think itās normal to want stuff that relates to the band you love, especially when itās world building stuff, so Iām not trying to make anyone feel guilty. I just think itās weird for MCR to have put this stuff out in the first place. Iām not blaming the band for this, Iām sure all of this is out of their hands. If you disagree with me on all of this, thatās 100% okay, Iām just offering my perspective and the things that immediately jumped out to me when I first saw the new merch.
Secondly: I know Iām being āthe friend thatās too woke.ā Iām aware lol, nobody needs to tell me. However, the entirety of LLTBP is based around thinking deeply and critically about what youāre seeing, what it means, and what it represents ā and thatās all Iām doing here :3
Point 1: Itās weird that this has been their biggest DRAAG merch drop so far. Two shirts, two hoodies, a jacket, a lounge set, two drinking containers, socks, a banner, a bag, and a pin set. Thatās a LOT of effort and content for this, considering my next points.
Point 2: This feels incredibly tone deaf when compared to what DRAAG (as a performance) is representing. Fascism, political corruption, government sanctioned murder, execution of political rivals, the suffering of citizens, the propagandizing of working classās pain, etc. Weāre very clearly meant to see all that, and see this is a fictional country with Soviet and Nazi imagery, and understand that it is BAD. And now weāre being offered merch of the Nazi imagery. Thatās really weird.
I guess that could technically be said about previous DRAAG merch as well, but I think I would disagree with that. Like the āa place that existā shirt, the white DRAAG dateback shirt, the deer flag, etc. are being sold at merch tables to commemorate the concert you were at, and have the context of being a bit more āmeta.ā When you buy a DRAAG shirt with the tour dates on the back, the merch clearly exists to remember the tour/the anti-fascist message of the tour THROUGH its use of DRAAG imagery. That is to say: it feels like itās not in support of the fictional nation, itās in remembrance of your experience in relation to it. The new merch feels like youāre a part of DRAAG, like a modern-day, supportive citizen.
The DNT merch has ā26ā all over it. Like, 2026. Like, āIn 2026 I am wearing completely unironic and uncritical in-universe merch of a fascist dictatorship because I think itās soooo cool!ā If it was made to look like vintage remnants of a fallen country, like the surviving historical team merch, that might have been cool. That would have highlighted that Fascist countries eventually fall, have a message of liberation, etc. But thatās not what they did.
Point 3: This is a smaller one, but the Olympics kinda suck. They have historically allowed participation from countries with misogynistic, homophobic, and transphobic legislation. They have historically not done enough to protect their athletes from abuse from the public, including transphobic abuse. They have historically profited from the abuse of children, to get āprodigyā after āprodigyā. They have historically employed racist and discriminatory practices in their judging. They have historically profited from the exploitation of womenās bodies through regulations that require them to wear revealing clothing. The list goes on. Itās just kind of a strange thing for the band to be evoking in their merch without a single sense of irony or criticism, and I think its inclusion makes DRAAG feel even more connected to the real world, which makes the Soviet + Nazi imagery even more blatantly strange in this context.
Point 4: The entire drop is ugly. This stuff is overpriced for how simple and boring it is. $30 socks with a design slapped on the side? $13 for three pins? Two $80 hoodies that just have Keposhka slapped around them? I love the scythe/wheat emblems, theyāre well designed. But itās just not worth what theyāre selling them for. We know damn well that those mass produced hoodies arenāt so expensive to manufacture that they just have to be $80 to make a profit. I think the shirts and canteen set arenāt priced as horribly, but even those arenāt great. It just all feels like a low effort cash grab.
Point 5: The entire thing kinda doesnāt make sense from a marketing perspective. Most of the fans who are super super into the LLTBP lore, enough to know what DRAAG is, enough be able to read Keposhka, enough be willing to spend big money on merch that 99.9% of people wonāt understand, and enough to buy merch that represents a theatrical performance instead of an album ā arenāt, typically, the same fans who are super into sports, sporting events, or merch related to sports. They know a huge portion of their most devoted fans are neurodivergent LGBT alternative people. Who are famously not huge fans of mainstream sports, like Olympic team sports. Like, do they (they being, idk, Warner??) even know their audience??
Point 6: Theyāve already done it right in the past. The last time they sold merchandise for a clearly politically charged invention of the band (Danger Days), they werenāt selling exclusively merch promoting the oppressor. Most DD merch is promoting the people who go against the oppressive government. We like the Killjoys, we relate to them as citizens of a real-world government who doesnāt care for us either. The BL/ind merch that did exist was well designed and interesting. And, most importantly, BL/ind isnāt based on Soviet Russia and the freaking Nazis.
Point 7: DRAAG IS BASED ON SOVIET RUSSIA AND THE NAZI REGIME.
I donāt know how many times I can say this. Your critical political satire shouldnāt be playing both sides. It shouldnāt be ālook how bad DRAAG is, look how they hurt the characters you love!ā but also ābuy our real-world inspired, in-universe canon propaganda merch for the fascist dictatorship!ā Maybe I could understand a hoodie and a shirt, just as some world building. But an entire merch drop? A $200 velour tracksuit??? Itās just absolutely ridiculous to sell luxury loungewear again the backdrop of a setting based on historically recent real life suffering, built on the backs of the oppressed majority.
Does anyone else see the irony here??? To go on stage and do a performance highlighting the suffering of the DRAAG working class and the uncaring government who sits above it all, and then sell a luxury $200 comfort item to your majority working class fans, during a time in America when so so SO many people can barely afford to live??? What the fuck? The MCR merch team must be directly overseen by His Grand Immortal Dictator at this point.
Now to say something positive: I think the canteen set is cool. It actually feels like it fits in the universe and has thought put into it.
Alternate ideas that I think could have been cool and less āproblematicā:
- Like I said before, I think it would have been awesome to see vintage-looking āhistoricalā (like the tourism shirt) DRAAG team merch. It would feel more like being interested in the history of DRAAG, instead of supporting the DRAAG government. I feel like DRAAG already has a sort of vintage aesthetic, and the new merch looking so modern kinda throws me off.
- Merch for a fictional DRAAG sport. I think this would be cool, since so far all we really know about the DRAAG citizens is that theyāre suffering. It would be interesting to see another glimpse into the DRAAG culture outside of the government.
- More items like the canteen set. Items that feel like they fit into the universe, like you could actually see them on stage.
- Black parade themed items!! Oh my god! The Black Parade (both the album, and the in-universe band) is the main draw of the tour, particularly for casual fans and people who donāt/canāt follow along with the lore. I want tbp jackets, graphic shirts with cool designs (like the limited releases), props from stage, plushes, $300 Gentleman replicas, CDs, yadda yadda you get it.
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