Capitalism, Ho!

About

Capitalism, Ho! is a catchphrase used by the character Recette in the business simulation RPG Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale to celebrate the success of her shop. The phrase has become notably popularized among fans of the game and is often used in memes, including image macros and fan art, along with images of Recette, often highlighting and exaggerating her capitalistic ways for comedic value. The meme and game are particularly prominent on 4chan's Traditional Games (/tg/) board. Another catchphrase of Recette's, "yayifications," used to express joy, is often used alongside "capitalism, ho!"

Origin

Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale, a business sim RPG, was released for PC in Japan in December 2007. It was released in North America in September 2010. The game puts players in the shoes of Recette, a young girl who has to run an item shop with a fairy named Tear to pay off the debt her dad accumulated before vanishing. Throughout the game, Recette uses the catchphrase "capitalism, ho!" in celebration of capitalism when her item shop is doing well (shown below).

Spread

The phrase "capitalism ho!" has received the most attention in memes about Recettear and started to become popular on 4chan's Traditional Games (/tg/) board the month of the game's release in North America, where many memes were created and posted. On September 8th, 2010, an anonymous user of 4chan's^[2] Traditional Games board posted a screenshot from the game of Recette saying the phrase. On September 9th, a /tg/^[3] thread about the game garnered over 180 responses including a number of memes. On September 12th, webcomic creator Nerf Now^[6] referenced the game and catchphrase in a comic (shown below).

On January 28th, 2011, an anonymous user of 4chan's /tg/^[7] board commented a piece of art using the phrase (shown below, left). On November 4th, Facebook^[4] page Yayifications posted an image macro of Recette's face with a top hat, monocle and cigar and the text "capitalism ho" (shown below).

On July 3rd, 2020, YouTuber^[1] SsethTzeentach posted a review of the game using the phrase "capitalism ho!" in the title, gaining over 1.7 million views in a year. On July 4th, FunnyJunk^[5] user toxicrunback posted a collection of "capitalism ho!" memes, many seemingly taken from 4chan (examples shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References