Mr. Peanut Is Dead in the Wildest Super Bowl Advertising Gambit of 2020 (So Far)
It’s that time of year again, when companies start releasing teasers to get you hyped for Super Bowl commercials. And this year Planters is making a gambit for the wildest Super Bowl campaign of the year with four little words:
Mr. Peanut is dead.
No, seriously.
The teaser Planters posted on YouTube (video above) shows Mr. Peanut sacrificing himself to save Wesley Snipes and Matt Walsh.
It is with heavy hearts that we confirm that Mr. Peanut has died at 104. In the ultimate selfless act, he sacrificed himself to save his friends when they needed him most. Please pay your respects with #RIPeanut pic.twitter.com/VFnEFod4Zp
— The Estate of Mr. Peanut (@MrPeanut) January 22, 2020
But as things on social media go, once you put something this weird out there into the ether, it takes on a life of its own:
Always classy, always crunchy, always cleaned up nicely. We’ll miss him! #RIPeanut pic.twitter.com/wtNQrFerBF
— Mr. Clean (@RealMrClean) January 22, 2020
Mr. Peanut is in Hell. He spent decades as the smiling face of a company that sold the boiled and roasted corpses of his people as a snack
— Patrick Monahan (@pattymo) January 22, 2020
Can you imagine the meeting at the ad agency that did this? some former creative wearing a bucket hat who needed a 9-5 going “we should kill mr peanut” https://t.co/fdRmTgPFzp
— Sarah Hagi (@geekylonglegs) January 22, 2020
I get that I’m falling for a rebranding here but:
1. Mr. Peanut died? How? He’s a talking peanut?
2. He… Sacrificed himself?
3. Who are his friends? Are they other peanuts? https://t.co/C5gWRM7NKS— Alex Zalben (@azalben) January 22, 2020
SMDH fake ass friends acting like they knew Mr. Peanut now that he’s dead
— Samantha Ruddy ?? (@samlymatters) January 22, 2020
Will any other company be able to top “stunt funeral for our mascot” during the Super Bowl? Well, we’ll find out…
