“Brexit” has led to something of a merch boom.

Best Brexit merch yet https://t.co/wCGcv9yuyW pic.twitter.com/vflsqQFHD7

— Holly Brockwell (@holly) March 23, 2019

The United Kingdom’s planned political departure from the European Union – “Brexit” in shorthand – is the hot button issue in Britain. Counselor has previously written about how Brexit is causing issues for promotional products firms in the U.S. and U.K. The broader controversy continues: Various surveys indicate that Britons are near equally divided over whether the U.K. should remain part of the 28-nation EU, or break from the political/economic bloc. As happens with so many social and political controversies these days, proponents of both viewpoints are using branded merchandise to proclaim their positions.

In the anti-Brexit camp, “remainers” like artist Jeremy Deller are expressing their position in terms that are, shall we say, unabashed. Deller has emblazoned T-shirts, mugs and stickers with an unequivocal phrase -- shown below. Deller’s conceit is to insert the colorful language into T-shirt designs/phrases that are already in the pop culture lexicon.

Jeremy Deller design. View the collection at House of Voltaire.

For the merchandise, Deller partnered with arts charity Studio Voltaire. Sales have so far raised nearly $33,000 for the charity. “It’s been the most popular range we have ever made,” Studio Voltaire head of development Niamh Conneely told The Guardian. The approximately 800 T-shirts that comprised the initial collection have nearly sold out.

Meanwhile, the “Bollocks to Brexit” movement is selling promotional products to support its cause, which centers on revocation of the legal article enabling Brexit and getting Britain to remain in the European Union. Items include a beanie, socks, flags and stickers.

Bollocks to Brexit beanie. View the original.

Bollocks to Brexit socks. View the original.

Naturally, there’s no shortage of merchandise on the pro-Brexit side of the aisle, either. Leave.EU, a campaign and website providing the public with information on the effects of leaving the EU from a pro-Brexit perspective, has an online shop that features T-shirts, badges, lapel badges, pens and “trolley tokens.” The merch displays the Leave.EU logo.

Leave.EU badge. Available here.

Leave.EU fountain pen. Available here.

Redbubble, an online marketplace for print-on-demand products based on user-submitted artwork, is home to an abundance of Brexit-inspired swag, too. Among the “leavers” merch, you’ll find T-shirts, totes and mugs like those shown below.

“Leave Means Leave” pro-Brexit tee is available at Redbubble.

“Happy Brexit Day” mug available on Redbubble.

This pro-Brexit tote is available here.

As it stands, the U.K.’s departure date from the EU is deadlined at Oct. 31 – a rollback from the previously planned March 29. Massive uncertainty remains, though. It’s unclear if the U.K. will strike a deal with the EU governing things like trade relations before the deadline. It’s also potentially up in the air if the British government will even follow through with exiting the EU amid what some characterize as mounting public opposition. As the debate and controversy clamor on, there’ll be ample opportunity for more merch to come to market to help articulate people’s positions on Brexit – another sign of promotional products’ growing role in public discourse on pivotal societal issues.