The Vaccine Is Creating Demand for Old Pharma Company Promos and New Themed Apparel

Bars are open, weddings can happen outside of a Zoom call, and thrill-seekers can ride roller coasters. There are obviously a ton of other perks to the vaccinated life, but those are just three off the tops of our heads.

With that feeling of relief comes the desire to show off that newly-vaccinated status, or show appreciation for the companies that made it possible.

There are a couple of ways that’s happening. One is that the Etsy Economy is pumping out apparel and novelty items that play on the “vaccinated” theme, or maybe use a company’s name in a joke (like Pfizer Pfam).

The other is that promotional products related to those companies are selling on re-sale sites like eBay, being that they’re now in the spotlight.

“People are trying to be a part of the conversation,” said Dr. Dimities Tsivrikos, a consumer and business psychologist at University College London. “Wearing something is not just about fashion; it’s a reflection of the situation and, in this instance, even taking a pro-vaccination position.”

For the company-specific items, Tsivrikos thinks that the items might be increase in value in a few years, making them sort of time capsule items from a time where the companies “saved the world,” so to speak.

The Guardian reported that there are currently more than 25,000 listings for vaccine-themed products on Etsy, like T-shirts, pins, drinkware, hats, stickers and more.

Credit: Screenshot via Etsy

As for the products representing Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson, there are items like a Zoloft-branded calculator, a Pfizer T-shirt, an AstraZeneca tote bag, AstraZeneca lapel pins, and more, all selling for noticeably more than they originally would have.

Credit: Screenshot via eBay

This says a few things about promotional products:

• The first is that some items people might think are old, outdated or just something meant to be thrown away might actually be keepsakes in the future.
• The other is that whenever something reaches the collective culture (hopefully something a bit more fun than COVID), there will be people ready to capitalize and cash in on it.

It's also creating demand for products beyond just bragging or trying to make a buck off of a company's newfound status. Just by searching "vaccine" on Etsy, we found multiple vaccine card holders, which we guessed would become a hot new item for the future. Some feature some very high-perceived-value design, like this leather one.

There isn't quite as much carryover into promo, but as vaccination numbers continue to rise and in-person events keep happening, it's a safe bet that people will want to protect their vaccine cards.