I cannot tell a lie, I am not a huge fan of sports. Nothing personal, I’d just rather spend my time reading fanfiction and watching old episodes of “Kitchen Nightmares” and “How It’s Made.” But the Super Bowl ads are something even an avid non-watcher of sorts like me cannot ignore. One promotion that has specifically caught my attention is the one done by Planters, who recently killed and subsequently reincarnated their mascot, Mr. Peanut.
Last week, Planters released an ad, titled “Road Trip,” in which Mr. Peanut’s car, the Nutmobile (*snort*) veered off a cliff, leaving Mr. Peanut, Wesley Snipes and Matt Walsh hanging from a branch over a canyon. Mr. Peanut, in order to save his friends, let go of the branch, falling to his death as he landed on the Nutmobile, which then exploded into a massive fireball.
“We’re devastated to confirm that Mr. Peanut is gone,” said Planters’ Twitter, which at the time was titled “The Estate of Mr. Peanut.” “He died doing what he did best – having people’s backs when they needed him most. #RIPeanut.”
Several other brands jumped at the opportunity to show real, human emotion — aka promoting their product — and real people joined in the fun, too.
Unfortunately, Mr. Tweets was right.
Planters told consumers to tune in to Mr. Peanut’s funeral, which would be broadcast during Sunday’s Super Bowl. This ad, titled “Tribute,” featured the funeral of Mr. Peanut. In attendance were some oddly dressed people (maybe references to their own products — I could be missing something here), along with Mr. Clean and the Kool-Aid Man. As the funeral director gives Mr. Peanut’s eulogy, the Kool-Aid Man begins to cry, letting out a sad “Oh Yeah,” and one of his tears falls on the fresh grave of Mr. Peanut. Upon his tear falling, the clouds in the sky open up, and a plant sprouts from the ground, which grows into an infant Mr. Peanut, complete with hat and shoes. When a funeral goer lifts the baby peanut into the air, the baby makes dolphin noises, before saying, “Just kidding, I’m back!” The funeral director rips apart the eulogy, the funeral goer lifts the baby peanut into the air, Simba-style, and triumphant orchestral music plays.
And then, dear readers, I looked down to the bottom of the ad, where my sweet, virgin eyes caught a glimpse of the name of Planters new mascot: Baby Nut.
I have so many questions. Is the Kool-Aid Man Baby Nut’s dad? Why does Baby Nut have an adult man’s voice? Are Planters planning on removing any of the saucier ads from their brand Twitter, since it looks really strange to have a Twitter titled Baby Nut posting Tweets that are really weirdly sexual? Why is there already a Baby Nut livestream where Baby Nut does “Fortnite” dances? Do Planters understand the modern connotations of the word “nut,” or are they choosing to ignore it?
Baby Nut is cute, I guess. Whatever. Buy some Baby Nut merchandise, give that boot a good licking, wash it down with some Kool-Aid. While this clear attempt to cash in on the popularity of characters like Baby Yoda and Baby Groot isn’t going to make me buy or eat any more peanuts than I would normally (which is…not a lot), it’s done one thing right — I’m going to be thinking about this whole mess for weeks to come.
Categories: Opinion
Leave a Reply