RIP Mr. Peanut. Is Planters' PR Stunt Genius, or Just Plain Nutty?

In a tragic turn of events, Mr. Peanut, the iconic long time mascot of Planters, a snack brand, has died, after driving his Nutmobile off a cliff to avoid hitting an unassuming armadillo in their path. He then sacrificed himself to save his friends, according to CNN.

Obviously, none of this is true, because Mr. Peanut is in fact, a fictitious character made-up 104 years ago to sell peanuts. The question is, was this fake death of a made up character genius, or just weird.

My opinion is that this was a smart PR move, under the circumstances. When a company does something like this, making a big scene out of killing off a mascot known so well by so many, you have to ask yourself why. Yes, this would generate buzz. But this isn’t the kind of thing that can be undone – the only genuine explanation is that Planters wants to rebrand.

Let’s look at the facts. Planters has announced that Mr. Peanut’s car accident commercial is just leading up to a second commercial that will air during the 2020 Superbowl on Feb. 2, according to CNN. Mr. Peanut has also been around for 104 years. It just might be time for them to freshen up their brand.

However, PR Week is quick to point out the resemblance of this huge PR stunt to that of IHOP’s infuriating IHOB scare. They even went so far as to Tweet a survey of how Mr. Peanut will come back, the survey options being that he won’t come back, he will come back as himself (like IHOP), as a fire-roasted nut or as Mrs. Peanut.

It seems like Planters has taken full advantage of this situation by not only having a Superbowl commercial, but sensationalizing the situation beforehand to get people excited about the commercial. Kind of genius. I definitely don’t think brands should go around killing off their mascots just for the heck of it because that will get old fast. But in this circumstance, not a bad move, Planters.

According to BusinessInsider, brand after brand have something to say about this PR stunt- I mean tragic accident. There is even a Twitter account for Mr. Peanut: The Estate of Mr. Peanut. These brands include Oscar Meyer, Chips Ahoy, Kraft, Skippy Peanut butter and so, so many more. Oreo commented, “Help us give a 21 dunk salute to our nutty and sweet friend,” while Nestle Toll House said a simple, “Peanut butter cookies will never be the same.”

As tragic as Mr. Peanut’s demise is, I’m sure Planters has something great in store for us. Planters- the whole world is waiting to see what your next move is.

RIP Mr. Peanut.