---
title: Banania "y'a bon" (advertising poster, Paris, 1915)
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/banania-y-a-bon-poster-1915/
description: Colour lithograph advertisement in which a broadly grinning soldier in the blue jacket, red-trimmed cuffs, red chechia and white trousers of a French…
section: Collection
---

[Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)

[![Banania "y'a bon" (advertising poster, Paris, 1915)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/banania-y-a-bon-poster-1915.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/banania-y-a-bon-poster-1915.jpg)

# Banania "y'a bon" (advertising poster, Paris, 1915)

Colour lithograph advertisement in which a broadly grinning soldier in the blue jacket, red-trimmed cuffs, red chechia and white trousers of a French colonial tirailleur sits beside a rifle, eating from a tin cup, next to a crate stamped Banania and the slogan 'y'a bon' in imitation pidgin. The product is tied to the wartime image of the colonial infantry and to 'French' food, so the soldier's presence and the mock-dialect caption sell the breakfast food rather than any evidence about it.

- **Date:** 1915
- **Period:** [First World War](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#era=wwi)
- **Made by:** Banania (Paris), printed by Affiches Camis
- **Region:** [Western and Central Europe](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#region=western-central-europe)
- **Country:** [France](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#country=france)
- **Medium:** [Poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#medium=poster)
- **Issuer type:** [Corporation](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#actor=corporation)
- **Regime:** [Viviani Government](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#regime=viviani-government)
- **Leader:** [Rene Viviani](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#leader=rene-viviani)
- **Audience:** [Domestic public](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#audience=domestic-public)
- **Purpose:** [Persuade or win support](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#purpose=persuade-support)
- **Themes:** [Empire and colonialism](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=empire-colonialism), [Race and ethnicity](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=race-ethnicity), [War and the military](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=war-military)
- **Event:** [World War I](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#event=world-war-i)
- **Techniques:** [Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/)
- **Source:** Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- **Source:** [Bibliotheque nationale de France (Gallica), via Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Banania_y%27a_bon_affiche,_non_identifi%C3%A9.jpg), retrieved September 29, 2026
- **Rights:** Public domain (published 1915; BnF Gallica; Wikimedia Commons: Public domain, not copyrighted) Bibliotheque nationale de France, Gallica, btv1b9006003d

## Text on the object

Original (French) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
BANANIA

BANANIA
LE PLUS NOURRISSANT
DES ALIMENTS FRANÇAIS
La Boite......... 1f.40
La Double Boite... 2f.50
ADMINISTRATION
48, R. de la Victoire, PARIS

y'a bon

REPRODUCTION & IMITATION RIGOUREUSEMENT INTERDITES
AFFICHES. CAMIS. PARIS
```

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

```
BANANIA

BANANIA
THE MOST NOURISHING
OF FRENCH FOODS
The box......... 1 f. 40
The double box... 2 f. 50
ADMINISTRATION
48, Rue de la Victoire, PARIS

it good (imitation pidgin: 'it is good')

REPRODUCTION AND IMITATION STRICTLY FORBIDDEN
POSTERS. CAMIS. PARIS
```

The BnF scan carries a shelf-mark strip and colour bar at the foot (W 024231, Gr Roul n.1, CAMIS), not part of the poster. 'Y'a bon' is a non-standard rendering of 'il y a bon'.

[← Australia's imperishable record. Australians! The empire needs you (Farmer's, Sydney)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/australias-imperishable-record-1915/) [Belgian Red Cross (donations poster, London) →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/belgian-red-cross-buchel-1915/)

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- [Bayeux Tapestry, scene 23: UBI HAROLD SACRAMENTVM FECIT VVILLELMO DVCI](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bayeux-tapestry-harold-oath-to-william-1070/) (1070 · Transfer, Card stacking)
- [Frontispiece to Eikon Basilike, The Pourtraicture of His Sacred Majestie in his Solitudes and Sufferings (Hollar, 1649)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/eikon-basilike-frontispiece-hollar-1649/) (1649 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
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