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This banana phone was created for those steadfastly dedicated to the memes of yore

This banana phone was created for those steadfastly dedicated to the memes of yore

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Banana Phone

A new Indiegogo campaign is trying to sell a Bluetooth phone accessory that’ll let you take calls on a plastic banana-looking thing. Novelty, yes. The device has a built-in microphone and speaker, and it charges over a Micro USB. It can apparently last 10 hours on a single charge, or 70 hours if you leave it to idle. Obviously it has a button for hanging up a call, too. Although it’s officially called the Banana Phone, it isn’t actually a phone. To reiterate: it’s a Bluetooth phone accessory that requires a cellphone to actually work. One will cost you $40.

I have no idea whether this thing is legitimate. As is always the case with Indiegogo, exercise caution before backing something, especially when the product is so dumb that it might just be an elaborate prank. The Banana Phone team does say 1 percent of purchases go toward Gearing Up 4 Gorillas, a UK-based charity that focuses on the conservation of the mountain gorilla in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, so that’s nice!

Now, I wasn’t aware of the whole history behind the banana phone. But my pal Jake Kastrenakes tells me it goes back to the children’s songwriter Raffi. See here:

His work on this bangin’ track even led to a meme that now has a Know Your Meme page. We can only assume Raffi has some feels on the $40 Banana Phone Indiegogo campaign, and Jake has reached out to confirm.

We’ll keep you posted if we hear back.