On Wednesday, Planters confirmed it has indeed killed off its spokesnut, the 104-year-old, monocle-wearing Mr. Peanut, and will be airing a funeral for the legume in the third quarter of the Super Bowl. The nut met his crushing demise while saving the lives of his friends (Wesley Snipes and Matt Walsh) in a pregame ad, AdAge reports.
On social, Mr. Peanut’s Twitter account (changed to The Estate of Mr.Peanut) tweeted out a loving tribute for the nut, encouraging people to “pay their respects” with the hashtag #RIPeanut.
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
Brands, along with the public, were equally shell-shocked. Competitors in the snack world like Snickers and Oreo shared remarks, as well as TV shows like "The Late Show" and "Jeopardy." By the afternoon, #RIPeanut was trending on Twitter with more than 15,000 tweets. Cue the puns: “Rest in Peanuts;” “He shell be missed;” “A nutty end.”
It’s not the first brand to bring the theme of death to the Super Bowl. Last year, Bud Light killed off its Bud Knight, and later revived him. While AB InBev was able to pull that off, not all brands have had the best reception to a morbid theme. After all, the Big Game is generally a time for celebration. In 2014, Nationwide aired a commercial portraying the death of a young boy from a preventable injury. It sparked backlash and was critiqued for using a boy’s death to sell insurance.
Regardless of whether this will be the final time we’ll be seeing Mr.Peanut, he’s certainly getting a nice send-off, and Planters is getting plenty of publicity ahead of its Super Bowl spot.
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