Remember how Planters Peanuts recently “died” and the internet lost its collective mind over the death of the beloved advertising icon? Well, it seems that death was indeed very short lived, as many suspected it would. Mr. Peanut has now been reincarnated, and has a new lease on life as an adorable infant. You can see the new commercial down below:
In the grand finale to Planters’ 2020 ad campaign, Mr. Peanut returned to the land of the living after fellow TV ad legend the Kool-Aid man shed one single tear at his funeral in the new ad that aired during the big game. After that one salty (sugary?) tear landed on Mr. Peanut’s gravesite, a plant began to grow on the lonely grave, and out spouted a newborn baby peanut. Who of course instantly asked for a monocle. As one would.
Planters Peanuts
In the first teaser for the company’s Big Game ad, Mr. Peanut is killed off in a car accident, in order to to save his friends Matt Walsh and Wesley Snipes. We see the three of them going on a road trip through the mountains, when Mr. Peanut has to suddenly swerve out of the way in order to not run over an armadillo of all things. Poor Mr. Peanut then takes his NUTmobile over a cliff. Although in a last act of incredible heroism, he manages to rescue Walsh and Snipes from falling to the pit below by sacrificing his own little peanut life. Mr. Peanut died as he lived: a hero.
In advance of the game, however, the “death of Peanut” ads were put on temporary hold after the tragic deaths of Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, along with seven other people in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California just last week. While changing the campaign was the classy move, in a way, this new ad is now a sequel to another ad that you have likely never seen as a result.
This whole ad campaign seems very leaning into the whole “infant version of famous beloved character” thing that has been working so well for “the Child,” a.k.a. “Baby Yoda.” Well, given the popularity of the Child on social media, the Planters folks are probably hoping “Baby Peanut” is just as popular. Although lightning like that rarely strikes twice. We’re not sure that Baby Peanut has a prayer of being as endlessly adorable as Baby Yoda.
Planters Peanuts
Mr. Peanut as an advertising icon has been around for over a hundred years now. The idea for a little, aristocratic nut man was first conceived by Antonio Gentile, whose sketch won a Planters brand icon contest in 1916. Ever since then, Mr. Peanut showed up in literally hundred of TV and print ads. And he even earned his place on Madison Avenue’s Advertising Walk of Fame in 2004. So there was next to no chance that “death” was ever going to be anything but a gimmick. There’s a solid chance that Mr. Peanut will outlast us all.
Featured Image: Planters Peanuts