Nintendo of Canada reveals the number of bananas frozen as part of national Banana Mania Contest

Vancouver, B.C., March. 14, 2014 – After almost a month of enticing Canadians with the Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze Banana Mania Contest, Nintendo of Canada has finally unpeeled the closely guarded secret about the number of bananas found frozen in a block of ice deep in the Canadian wilderness.  Check out the behind-the-scenes video to see all of Donkey Kong’s hilarious Banana Mania shenanigans.

In total, 4,835 bananas were inside a frozen block of ice as part of the Banana Mania Contest in support of the February 21 launch of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, which saw participation from thousands of fans from across Canada.  One lucky winner from Medicine Hat, AB was awarded the grand prize that includes a four-day adventure trip for four to Whistler Blackcomb, a Wii U Deluxe Set system, a copy of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, a Wii Remote Plus controller and Nunchuk controller, which was valued at $9,740.

But there wasn’t just one big winner of the Banana Mania Contest.  Nintendo of Canada and Donkey Kong donated all of the bananas to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society, a non-profit organization that provides assistance to over 28,000 people weekly through 15 food depots and over 100 community agencies located in Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster and North Vancouver.

“Nintendo of Canada was pleased to share this experience with the thousands of Donkey Kong fans who celebrated this latest game launch with us,” said Ron Bertram, Nintendo of Canada’s vice-president and general manager.  “We are just as bananas as our fans about Donkey Kong and look forward to swinging, swimming, leaping and barrel-blasting through Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze!”

Going Bananas Over Donkey Kong

Nintendo of Canada launched the Banana Mania Contest on its Facebook page in early February, posting an image of a mysterious crate discovered in the Canadian wilderness.  Over the course of five days, Nintendo of Canada teased fans with a series of daily videos and images, which inspired fans to guess what it contained.  On February 7, a reveal video featuring television personality Ajay Fry and Donkey Kong revealed that the much-speculated crate contained an ice block full of bananas. Canadians then had two weeks to guess the number of bananas for a chance to win the Donkey Kong grand prize pack.

Although the contest has closed, Donkey Kong fans can still see the whole story unfold on Nintendo of Canada’s Facebook page and YouTube:

- Day 1: A Discovery in Whistler, BC (video clip - Facebook)
- Day 2: Bigger than we thought (photo - Facebook)
- Day 3: Mysterious Markings (video clip - Facebook)
- Day 4: Off to a facility for a closer look (photo - Facebook)
- Day 5: Going inside to investigate (video clip - Facebook)
- Day 6: The Big Reveal (video - YouTube)
- Donkey Kong Collecting Bananas (video - Facebook)
- Behind-the-Scenes of Banana Mania (video - YouTube)