This blog is about to be nuts! Known for his monocle, top hat and cane, Mr. Peanut has been toasted and died at 104 years old. Mr. Peanut is one the most iconic food brand mascots in history and he will be missed by many.
The commercial took place with Mr. Peanut driving the NUTmobile with Wesley Snipes and Matt Walsh. Mr. Peanut drove a little nuts and swerved off the road, making all three hang from a branch that was going to snap. Mr. Peanut let go without any hesitation plunging to his death. Click here to watch the full 30 second video. This commercial is a preview of the so called "funeral" of Mr. Peanut. The full story of Mr. Peanut's death will be aired before one the biggest commercial activity event, the Super Bowl.
Twitter blew up when The Estate of Mr. Peanut tweeted about the commercial and his death. #RIPeanut is trending on Twitter and it is a huge PR campaign for Planters. A bunch of well-known brands are tweeting back to Mr. Peanut with punny responses. All the tweets about this campaign makes my heart happy because I see the use of social media and public relations mixing with a huge food icon.
This marketing strategy may be a bit morbid but it is genius. Some may argue Mr. Peanut is more popular than Planters itself but this campaign is getting people to talk about the product. Isn't that the point of a marketing strategy?
I wonder what is going to happen next. Is Mr. Peanut actually dead? Who is going to replace one of the most popular food brand mascots in history? Twitter did their typical thing and Planters marketing strategy is GREAT, in my opinion.
I absolutely loved Mr. Peanut and was so sad to see that he had sacrificed his life for others. Although, since I am a marketing major, I am so happy to see how well this marketing strategy is working out for the company. I love seeing companies find new ways to gain attention. I am also very excited to see what they are thinking of doing next. I hope they have someone as great as Mr. Peanut represent the company.
ReplyDeleteWow, I did know Mr. Peanut died. This was a great marketing idea though. As you can see above, many brands tweeted their condolences which further promoted the brand. I wonder are they going to revamp their brand so they decided to go out with this option.Interesting post Emily, good job.
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