- Banania
Banania is a popular
chocolate drink found most widely distributed inFrance . It is made frombanana flour ,barley ,cocoa , andsugar . 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 toNesquik .History
During a visit near
Lake Managua ,Nicaragua , in 1909, the journalistPierre Lardet discovered the recipe for a cocoa-based drink. When he returned toParis , he started its commercial fabrication and, in 1912, began marketing Banania with the picture of anAntillaise . Her image was replaced in 1915 with the drawing of a widely smilingSenegalese man.Brett A. Berliner. "Ambivalent Desire: The Exotic Black in Jazz-Age France" Pages 10–17. (University of Massachusetts Press , 2002) ISBN 1558493565]At the outset of
World War I , the popularity of the colonial troops at the time led to the replacement of the West Indian by the now more familiar jolly Senegalese infantry man enjoying Banania. 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: the abundant food which keeps, using the least possible space"). Fact|date=October 2007The 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 French supposedly used by these soldiers (it is, in fact, an invention). Slowly but surely, the slogan and the character became inseparable as the expression was coined: "l'ami y'a bon" ("the "y'a bon" buddy").The form of the character has since evolved, so that now all that remains is the name.
In the 1970s and early 1980s, Banania sponsored the
zoller of theTour de France .The advertising slogans and images have been labelled racist and colonialist by some who argue that it reinforces the old cliché of a friendly yet stupid African. Some French black people connect this stereotype with aggressive colonialist policy in Africa of the global group
Unilever , the old unique owner of the brand.In France the Banania brand is now owned by the newly-founded French company
Nutrimaine , which acquired it from Unilever in 2003.ee also
*
Aunt Jemima
*Uncle Ben's References
External links
* [http://www.congopage.com/article2906.html "Y’a bon Banania ou Y’a pas bon Banania ???"] - Discussion of the racial implications of Banania
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