Banania is a popular

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

drink found most widely distributed in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It is made from

cocoa Cocoa may refer to: Chocolate * Chocolate * ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree * Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao'' * Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter and ...

banana flour Banana flour is a powder traditionally made of green bananas. Historically, banana flour has been used in Africa and Jamaica as a cheaper alternative to wheat flour. It is now often used as a gluten-free replacement for wheat flours or as a sourc ...

cereals A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more food en ...

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

and

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

. There are two types of Banania available in French supermarkets: 'traditional' which must be cooked with milk for 10 minutes, and 'instant' which can be prepared in similar fashion to

Nesquik Nesquik is a brand of food products made by Swiss company Nestlé. In 1948, Nestlé launched a drink mix for chocolate-flavored milk called Nestlé Quik in the United States; this was released in Europe during the 1950s as ''Nesquik''. Since 1 ...

History

During a visit near

Lake Managua Lake Managua ( es, Lago de Managua, ), also known as Lake Xolotlán (), is a lake in Nicaragua. At 1,042 km², it is approximately long and wide. Similarly to the name of Lake Nicaragua, its other name comes from the Nahuatl language, possi ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

in 1909, the journalist Pierre Lardet discovered the recipe for a cocoa-based drink. When he returned to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, he started its commercial fabrication and, in 1912, began marketing Banania with the picture of an

Antillaise The Antilles (; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Antiy; es, Antillas; french: Antilles; nl, Antillen; ht, Antiy; pap, Antias; Jamaican Patois: ''Antiliiz'') is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mex ...

. At the outset of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the popularity of the colonial troops at the time led to the replacement of the West Indian in 1915, by the now more familiar jolly Senegalese infantry man enjoying Banania.Brett A. Berliner. ''Ambivalent Desire: The Exotic Black in Jazz-Age France'' Pages 10–17. (

University of Massachusetts Press The University of Massachusetts Press is a university press that is part of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The press was founded in 1963, publishing scholarly books and non-fiction. The press imprint is overseen by an interdisciplinar ...

, 2002) Pierre Lardet took it upon himself to distribute the product to the Army, using the line ''pour nos soldats la nourriture abondante qui se conserve sous le moindre volume possible'' ("for our soldiers: abundant nourishment that stores while taking up the least space possible"). The brand's yellow background underlines the banana ingredient, and the Senagalese infantryman's red and blue uniform make up the other two main colours. The slogan ''Y'a bon'' ("It's good") derives from the

pidgin A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified means of communication that develops between two or more groups of people that do not have a language in common: typically, its vocabulary and grammar are limited and often drawn from s ...

French supposedly used by these soldiers (it is, in fact, an invention). The form of the character has since evolved to more of a cartoon character. However, the original advertising has become a cultural icon in France. Posters and reproduction tin-plate signs of the pre-war advertising continue to be sold. In the 1970s and early 1980s, Banania sponsored the

Yellow Jersey The general classification is the most important classification, the one by which the winner of the Tour de France is determined. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification wears the yellow jersey (french: maillot jaune ). History Th ...

of the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

. In France the Banania brand is now owned by the newly founded French company Nutrial, which acquired it from

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy drink, t ...

in 2003.

Marketing

This brand of chocolate drink is recognized by its trademark the 'bonhomme Banania': a black man wearing a fez. The company started using this illustration in 1915.

Controversy

Some feel that the advertising slogans and images are

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

and

colonialist Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their relig ...

as it reinforces the cliché of a friendly yet stupid African. Some French black people connect this stereotype with aggressive colonialist policy in Africa of the global group

, the former owner of the brand. The Martiniquan psychiatrist and philosopher

Frantz Fanon Frantz Omar Fanon (, ; ; 20 July 1925 – 6 December 1961), also known as Ibrahim Frantz Fanon, was a French West Indian psychiatrist, and political philosopher from the French colony of Martinique (today a French department). His works have be ...

, in his 1952 book ''

Black Skin, White Masks ''Black Skin, White Masks'' (french: Peau noire, masques blancs) is a 1952 book by philosopher Frantz Fanon. The book is written in the style of autoethnography, in which Fanon shares his own experiences while presenting a historical critique of ...

'', mentions the grinning Senegalese tirailleur as an example of how in a burgeoning consumer culture, the Negro appears not only as an object, but as "an object in the midst of other objects".Frantz Fanon. ''Black Skin, White Masks'', trans. Charles Lam Marckmann Page 109. (

Pluto Press Pluto Press is a British independent book publisher based in London, founded in 1969. Originally, it was the publishing arm of the International Socialists (today known as the Socialist Workers Party), until it changed hands and was replaced ...

, 1986)

References

External links

Banania commercial (in French)
{{Authority control Drink brands French brands Chocolate drinks

History

Marketing

Controversy

See also

References

External links