The season premiere for So You Think You Can Dance has become a launching pad for a new advertising campaign for bananas. Random? Not really. It has been quite cleverly integrated into the theme of the popular television show, using the banana’s rich stores of energy and nutrients as a selling point for dancers.

There have been many advertising campaigns for Aussie bananas, the most famous being the ‘make those bodies sing’ commercial. The commercial, created by husband and wife, Janet and Ralph Hogan, was first shot in 1994. It was then shot again, seven years on, with the same child actors, grown into teenagers. This was actually an advertising first and it created a trend where an industry would follow a core group of Australian children from birth to adulthood. The commercial has also recently been shot another seven years on, this time with the original actors taking part in their vocations and still loving bananas. Visit the website here.

There have of course been many other commercials in between, the current spin-off involving a series of pictures; an unhealthy habbit, labeled a ‘no-no’, and then a picture of a banana, or ‘na-na’. The SYTYCD sponsor campaign has used images of bananas disguised as pills and sports drink bottles to push the idea that bananas are nature’s best source of energy.

Personally, I couldn’t agree more. I think bananas are an amazing food; tasty, versatile, full of nutrition and they come pre-packaged! They are quite the advertiser’s dream.