Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
item to the sale of a branded, identifiable item, which, if adopted, will
enable us to advertise our bananas, instead of bananas generally.
95
By turning an agricultural commodity into a retail product distinguish-
able by a brand name, United Fruit hoped to create demand for a ''pre-
mium'' export banana for which it could charge higher prices and recu-
peratesomeoftheaddedexpensesassociatedwithboxing.
96
Thecompany
created a new executive position, Director of Quality Control, that was
responsible for setting and maintaining quality standards. In 1963, United
Fruit launched a multi-million dollar advertising campaign in order to
promote its new product. Company o
cials chose ''Chiquita'' for the
brand name after marketing surveys revealed that consumer recognition
of ''Miss Chiquita'' remained extremely high (surpassed only by Elsie, the
Borden cow, according to one trade journal).
97
Workers in packing plants
began placing blue and gold stickers on retail units of bananas that fea-
tured a Mirandaesque figurewearing a fruit-laden hat and theword ''Chi-
quita.'' Supermarket displays featured oversized versions of the blue and
gold icon accompanied by the phrase ''This seal outside means the best
inside.''
98
Once a mere salesgirl, Miss Chiquita was now United Fruit's top
banana.
Meanwhile, popular culture in the United States continued to appro-
priate the banana as an icon for sex and humor. In 1967, national media
outlets reported that ''hippies'' were smoking dried and shredded banana
peel fibers.The smoke, dubbed ''mellow yellow,'' reputedly produced hal-
lucinogenic effects similar to LSD. One U.S. congressperson proposed a
banana-labeling act in order to halt what he described, tongue-in-cheek,
as''aninvasionofthefruitstandbyagenerationofthrillseekers.''
99
Infact,
the recipe for smoking banana peels started as a satire in theBerkeleyBarb
and was later picked up by other counter-culture periodicals, including
the VillageVoice.
100
Subsequently, the story gave new meanings to British
pop singer Donovan's hit tune ''MellowYellow.'' However, the humor was
lost on straight-laced United Fruit Company o
cials who, along with the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration, conducted laboratory experiments
to discredit the notion that burning fruit peels could produce halluci-
nogenic effects. Counterculture movements of the 1960s also revived the
banana as a phallic symbol, most notably in the Andy Warhol-designed
jacket for the rock album classic, TheVelvetUndergroundandNico,re-
leased by Verve Records in 1967. The cover featured a yellow banana that
peeled off to reveal an orange-pink colored fruit that was highly sugges-
tive of a penis. Significantly, during a period when scholars, university
