Why did Viktor Orbán bring pickles to Parliament? What made Kamala Harris lean into ‘brat summer’? And why do politicians flood social media with pets, food, and everyday objects? Ilana Hartikainen and Zea Szebeni argue these are examples of ‘banana populism’, where politicians build powerful emotional connections with voters through whimsical, mundane imagery
Our new research in Social Media + Society reveals how important seemingly silly moments are in drawing antagonistic frontiers. They invite emotional investment, help mainstream ideologies, and construct authenticity. Their ubiquity across the political spectrum refutes numerous longstanding myths about populism.
Political communication is moving increasingly online, and voters are forming attachments through memes, rather than manifestos. Understanding banana populism is therefore crucial for making sense of contemporary politics.
The discourse-theoretical approach to populism defines it as a ‘mode of articulation’, or type of political discourse, that separates society into a ‘people’ and an ‘Other’ along affective, or emotional, lines. Positive emotions – such as pride in the nation or hope for the future – bind the ‘people’ together. Negative emotions, meanwhile, arise towards the Other. One obvious example is fear of immigrants, a common symptom of right-wing populist supporters.
In their contribution to this series, Maurits Meijers, Robert A. Huber, and Andrej Zaslove define populism as an ideology that pits ‘the people’ against ‘the elite’. Many other posts in this series adopt the same definition.
With banana populism, the people-versus-elite tension matters less than the emotionally charged symbols populists use in their communication
Banana populism, conversely, suggests the people-versus-elite tension matters less than the emotionally charged aesthetic symbols populists use in their communication. A MAGA hat or pickle jar can unite supporters without requiring clear ideological boundaries. A populist movement needn’t rely on a single emotion, but presents an array of them to entice potential supporters. Political science scholarship has not yet explored the potential for banana-populist techniques to spark voters’ emotional investment.
Why the banana?
Banana populism doesn’t operate in a vacuum; it exists in all populist movements. It renders the leader authentic, accessible, and emotionally engaging by integrating mundane, absurd, ridiculous, whimsical, and relatable elements into political discourse. We chose the banana metaphor because it is completely ordinary yet potentially absurd if it appears in unexpected places, such as duct-taped to the wall in an art exhibition.
What goes into banana populism?
Four key dimensions show up in varying degrees – though possibly not at all – in any banana-populist act or statement:
Antagonistic frontiers
Visual symbols separate ‘us’ from ‘them’, strengthening the populist idea of division. Trump’s MAGA hat, for example, became a powerful symbol for his supporters, allowing them to demonstrate allegiance in opposing spaces — and inspiring similar hats in other countries. During a 2019 speech, Brexit supporter Boris Johnson brandished a symbolic kipper to create an us-versus-them narrative around supposedly draconian EU food safety regulations:
Inviting emotional investment
Populist leaders use warm, comforting, and often humorous imagery to build emotional connections with voters, and render themselves more relatable. Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán bringing homemade pickles to Parliament, for instance, sparked incongruous humour through its exaggerated normality, blending the warmth of the kitchen with national pride.
Politicians including former Czech prime minister Andrej Babiš frequently post photos with dogs to humanise themselves and connect with dog-loving publics. In doing so they invite a ‘warm, fuzzy’ feeling that connects with voters more effectively than political rhetoric. This is why US Vice President Kamala Harris chose to ‘lean into “brat summer”‘ — such ‘silly’ moments draw people in on an emotional level.
Using comforting or humorous imagery to build emotional connections, leaders create a ‘warm, fuzzy feeling’ that connects with voters more effectively than political rhetoric
Mainstreaming
Banana populism takes extreme or fringe ideas and makes them seem normal and acceptable by embedding them in familiar, relatable visuals. For example, a German far-right politician eating a Turkish döner kebab could mask xenophobic rhetoric, making them appear open-minded.
Similarly, as another Loop post demonstrates, Romanian Diana Iovanovici-Șoșoacă’s ‘Amazon warrior’ music video and muzzle stunt mainstream far-right positions through viral absurdity. French far-right leader Marine Le Pen being pictured holding kittens, or Dutch right-winger Geert Wilders’ appearance on a children’s TV show cuddling cats, likewise soften their radical images and make their political messages more accessible to wider audiences.
Authenticity
Visual performances forge a ‘genuine’ connection between populist leaders and the ‘authentic people’ they claim to represent. Whether the reference points are informally relatable, like Nutella or bread rolls, or highbrow, like truffles, the display must feel authentic to the leader’s persona.
Clothing can also create authenticity: Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s consistent military attire, even while meeting high-level dignitaries abroad, reminds viewers that his country is engaged in active warfare. This seemingly mundane act can foster emotional investment from domestic and international supporters invested in Zelenskyy’s perceived strength and resilience while facing the greatest challenge.
When silly gets serious
So why does this matter? These whimsical, ridiculous visuals appeal directly to social media algorithms, inviting engagement from followers and detractors. Banana populism’s power hinges on its memeability; that is, its capacity to invite its own replication, whether through supporters sharing images or detractors making fun of them.
Banana populism’s power hinges on its memeability; that is, its capacity to invite its own replication
Trump’s ubiquitous MAGA hat is a great example. You can now buy innumerable hats bearing the ‘Make-something-something-again’-format slogan. Of course, these hats are meant as satire — but they keep Trump and the MAGA movement in public consciousness, albeit in parodic form. The relatability of banana populist visuals also brings politicians and their ideas out of their golden penthouse apartments and down to earth, making extreme ideas more relatable.
This is politics beyond the rational, beyond policy debates and pragmatic concerns. Existing research on emotions in populist politics tends to stay on the serious side, exploring emotional drivers like anger or pride. Banana populism draws attention to the silly, the ridiculous, the whimsical as entry points to understanding what makes populist movements so broadly inviting.
When anti-democratic populist actors deploy banana populism in service of their anti-democratic ideas, a little dog pic might have a powerful bite. Given its popularity across the political spectrum, banana populism isn’t going anywhere. We must therefore learn to look critically at how those funny videos serve serious political purposes.