President Trump has thrown around the idea of the “Space Force” as the sixth branch of the military for a couple of years now. Some laughed off the idea, even when there was a campaign in August where Trump supporters could vote on designs for future Space Force merchandise. But last week, Space Force was officially organized as part of the Air Force. And, today, you can actually buy Space Force merchandise on the official Trump/Pence 2020 campaign site, meaning that the message has joined “Build the Wall” as a cornerstone of a re-election platform and “Make America Great Again” as an aesthetic aspect of Trump’s presidency.
https://twitter.com/lachlan/status/1100068443171287041
The one hat is one of the choices from the voting campaign, which shows that the Trump camp actually did take its supporters’ feedback into account.
The other one is new, but it’s sort of reminiscent of another choice. Maybe that one was the runner up.
The Trump campaign wants to start selling a new Space Force themed line of merchandise, and they are soliciting votes on which design to use. https://t.co/jULMiMUHiJ pic.twitter.com/yinmhPxizx
— ABC News (@ABC) August 10, 2018
“Show you are ready for launch and committed to making America great again with the Official Space Force Hat,” the product description reads. “While supplies last. Get yours today!”
The “while supplies last” part implies that this is maybe a one-off thing, and that once they’re gone, the campaign will move onto different merchandise options.
But, being that the internet is forever, of course you can buy unofficial Space Force-related merchandise on Amazon.
Check out this “I Want You For Space Force” T-shirt, or this U.S. Space Force “classic logo” T-shirt. (Though we’re not sure how something can be classic if it’s brand new.)
Of course, none of these Amazon purchases will benefit the Trump campaign like the hats would, but it shows that the “Space Force” branding has moved far beyond just a throwaway remark or idea. It’s now firmly in the lexicon of the Trump presidency and now has tangible support.
It’s also interesting because, if it were to become a legitimate branch of the military, using it as a marketing tool and almost as an intellectual property for the sake of campaigning would be a questionable strategy. It would be frowned upon for a presidential candidate to make hats just for the Marine Corps or the Navy, and pass them off as campaign memorabilia or tie them in with their own personality. And, because of that, Space Force feels less like a real military branch we’ll see in the near future, and more like a personal branding move to generate campaign funds. If it goes anything like Trump’s other hats, it’ll likely pay off.
