Against the backdrop of World War I, Lardet\u2019s Mascot tapped into a mood of patriotism and pride in French colonialism. But it also helped to encourage public acceptance of African soldiers fighting on French soil, explains Sandrine Lemaire, a historian and co-author of several books on French colonisation. Banania wasn\u2019t alone. The French authorities also sought to use images highlighting the loyalty and military qualities of France\u2019s African soldiers through propaganda, postcards and news articles.<\/p>\n
![\"World](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-159147259-1703054048.jpg\")
Senegalese riflemen rest during the First World War. These soldiers were the inspiration behind Banania\u2019s first mascot [Roger Viollet via Getty Images]<\/p>\n
\u201cThe tirailleur was an opportunistic advertising invention from Lardet \u2026 which made the consumption of Banania a quasi-patriotic act,\u201d said Pap Ndiaye, a politician and historian, during a 2010 talk<\/a> about Banania and colonial oppression.<\/p>\n Banania was promoted through children\u2019s comics featuring the mascot. In one, he returns to his homeland from France, bringing two boxes of Banania to Africans dressed in loincloths. In an illustrated booklet<\/a> published in 1933, he takes Banania to France before going to the West Indies, the Canary Islands and French colonial Indochina to set up banana plantations.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the 20s, 30s, 40s, Banania was everywhere. It had touchpoints in all domains \u2013 cinema, packaging, promotional items, notebooks,\u201d said branding expert Jean Watin-Augouard in a 2014 documentary<\/a> about Banania.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, between the late 1930s and the early 1950s, according to the sole book published about Banania\u2019s history, the company tripled production. These were Banania\u2019s golden years before Nesquik entered the market in the 1960s.<\/p>\n The mascot, which appeared in advertising, packaging and collectible items, such as toys, was popular throughout the 20th century because it reinforced French people\u2019s pride in their colonial empire and their \u201csubjects\u2019\u201d contribution to the war effort, says Etienne Achille, an associate professor of French and Francophone studies at Villanova University in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n But as the French colonies in Africa fought for and gained independence in the 1950s and early 1960s, Banania was also shaken by decolonisation.<\/p>\n Increasingly, Banania \u2013 with its slogan and stereotyped mascot \u2013 became shorthand for colonialism and racism. The tirailleur, in representing soldiers forced to fight for France, came to embody the injustice denounced by anti-colonial movements.<\/p>\n \u201cI will tear up the Banania smiles from all the walls of France,\u201d wrote Leopold Sedar Senghor, who became Senegal\u2019s first president in 1960, in a 1948 poem dedicated to the tirailleurs.<\/p>\n A few years later, Martinique-born philosopher-psychiatrist Frantz Fanon made several references to \u201cY\u2019a bon Banania\u201d in his 1952 book Black Skin, White Masks, to denote how Black people in France are seen through the lens of racist tropes.<\/p>\n But, despite the criticisms, the mascot remained, albeit with updates.<\/p>\n In 1967, when advertising sold modern, aspirational lifestyles, it became simplified and geometric: a brown triangular<\/a> face with cartoon eyes and a red rectangular hat on a yellow background. The slogan, however, was retired in 1977.<\/p>\n In the 1980s and 1990s,<\/a> a cartoonish child\u2019s face was introduced on some of the brand\u2019s products, while others retained the mascot.<\/p>\n In 2004, after Banania was acquired by French company Nutrial under a holding company, Nutrimaine, a new mascot was unveiled: the \u201cgrandson\u201d of the 1915 tirailleur, who, according to Nutrimaine, symbolised diversity and the successful integration of migrant communities into French society. But his stereotyped features weren\u2019t so different from his predecessor\u2019s, with his ecstatic smile, white teeth and red fez.<\/p>\n During the last decades of the 20th century, the French brand never regained its dominant position and continued to lose ground to competitors like Nesquik. It had struggled financially while becoming less popular among younger generations.<\/p>\n \u201cThey had to return to the golden era of the brand to save the company. There was only one way to do it: to go back to the emblem. Very few brands are so connected to their emblem,\u201d explained Achille. \u201cThis rejuvenated version effectively plays on the idea of superposition. When you see it, you immediately think of the old tirailleur.\u201d<\/p>\n The design also caught the attention of writers and activists at Grioo.com, an online platform for the French-speaking Black community in Europe and Africa. \u201cCan we tolerate that in 2005 we are represented as our ancestors were 90 years ago?\u201d Grioo asked its readers, launching an online petition<\/a> against Banania.<\/p>\n More than two decades later, the \u201cgrandson\u201d still smiles on Banania boxes in supermarkets across France.<\/p>\n For Achille, Banania\u2019s marketing epitomises France\u2019s lack of public debate about colonialism and postcolonial racism. \u201cOnly the complete imbrication of the colonial into popular culture can explain why Banania can continue to operate with impunity,\u201d he said. \u201cIn other countries, this would not be possible.\u201d<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Nutrimaine declined to provide comment for this article.<\/p>\n Awatif Bentahar, 37, grew up seeing Banania on supermarket shelves and drinking it on occasion. She says, \u201cThe company hasn\u2019t understood how their heritage can actually be hurtful to a big part of the population.<\/p>\n \u201cThe French \u2018children of immigrants\u2019 see the painful history of colonisation and the struggle we are waging today to be respected in a society that cannot help but refer on a daily basis to our status of \u2018different\u2019 French.\u201d<\/p>\n As a graphic designer and a French woman of Moroccan descent, Bentahar would like to see Banania evolve. As a personal project, she created alternative decolonised packaging, removing the mascot and drawing from previous designs to include playful eyes and a smile.<\/p>\n \u201cI decided to try to rebrand Banania, not because I hate it, but because I actually like the idea of what it could be. Brands are part of our lives, whether we like it or not,\u201d she wrote<\/a> on her blog.<\/p>\n \u201cThis one happens to be part of my childhood, and I would love to see it being on the good side of history for a change.\u201d<\/p>\n This article is part of \u201cOrdinary items, extraordinary stories\u201d, a series about the surprising stories behind well-known items.\u00a0<\/p>\n Read more from the series:<\/p>\n How the inventor of the bouncy castle saved lives<\/a><\/p>\n How a popular Peruvian soft drink went \u2018toe-to-toe\u2019 with Coca-Cola<\/a><\/p>\n How a drowning victim became a lifesaving icon<\/a><\/p>\n How a father\u2019s love and a pandemic created a household name<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Renault](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/48107765063_283e1247ee_o-1756466150.jpg\")
A Renault Estafette with Banania branding and a 1979 Tour de France sign [Creative Commons]Shaken by decolonisation<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/banania-currentbox-1-1702994205.jpeg\")
The \u2018grandson\u2019 of the original tirailleur adorns modern packaging [Clement Girardot\/Al Jazeera]<\/p>\n![\"Banania](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Banania-redesign-decolonize-brand-design-example-3-1702994224.jpg\")
Graphic designer Awatif Bentahar reimagined the packaging of a drink that was part of her childhood [Courtesy of Awatif Bentahar]\u2018Hurtful\u2019 heritage<\/p>\n