Colombia Was Passion: Commercial Nationalism and the Reinvention of Colombianness

Abstract

The last months of 2012 saw a nationalistic revolt in Colombian social networking sites where thousands of citizens protested against ‘Colombia is the Answer’, the new national brand of the country. Citizens criticized Juan Manuel Santos’ government and the organizations involved in the brand for spending 7,000 million pesos (approximately US$4 million) on the project. In this revolt, however, Colombians were not protesting against the marketization of their national identity or the selling of their country as a destination for travelers and foreign investors. Instead, what angered the population was the premature ending of ‘Colombia es Pasión’ (Colombia is Passion; CEP hereafter), the brand used to represent the country since 2005. In only seven years, the brand had been inscribed in the symbolic repertoire of Colombianness, to the extent that it came to be considered one of the most powerful symbols of the nation.