The French-language blog InternetRapide (which has been keeping an eye, lately, on Digicel’s imminent purchase of Bouygues Télécom Caraïbe) drew my attention to this striking television commercial for the Guadeloupe and Martinique banana industry which has apparently been running on French television.
It’s a slick piece of PR that makes use of the images of four French West Indian sporting stars (footballer Nicolas Anelka, Olympic fencer Laura Flessel, tennis player Gaël Monfils and and runner Christine Arron), followed by two pages of text (in French, of course). The first says: “Why do Guadeloupe and Martinique give us so many great champions?” And the second: “The Banana of Guadeloupe and Martinique: Nothing can beat it,” the word “beat” here clearly referring both to the superiority of the fruit and the persistent struggle that keeping the Caribbean banana industry afloat has become. Nice piece of work.
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[...] InternetRapide.com points (FR) to recent efforts to promote Martinique and Guadeloupe bananas, including a commercial and website featuring athletes from the two islands. The blogger cites increased competition from American corporations and international regulations limiting French government subsidies as threats. Caribbean Free Radio gave the spot a thumbs up. [...]
Pingback by Global Voices Online » Blog Archive » French Antilles: Banana Drama 04.25.06 @ 9:13 ammaybe you didn’t see the print ads. in america those print ads would be considered racist and i doubt they would ever be printed. and the reason the noirs of france don’t realize this is that they are so accustomed to such ignorance and disrespect they remain silent. i’m african-american and i thank god that i live in a country where real, live leadership for black people and other minorities exists. france has miles to go before it can sleep-and sarkosy is presently leading the way. i feel sorry for the persons of color who live in this country (france).
Comment by h 05.19.06 @ 3:05 amNo, the print ads did not run here in the English-speaking Caribbean.
Could you elaborate on why they would have been considered racist in the US?
Comment by Georgia 05.22.06 @ 11:42 amLeave a comment
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