Recently, Planters killed off their iconic 104-year-old iconic Mr. Peanut. This rather brilliant marketing tactic was devised by VaynerMedia who does the company’s marketing and was inspired by the death of Robert Downey Jr.‘s Tony Stark. That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, the death of Iron Man in ‘Avengers: Endgame‘ is precisely why Mr. Peanut is no longer among the land of the living.
This new detail came from Group Creative Director at Planters’ agency VaynerMedia Mike Pierantozzi who revealed the following in a recent interview with MSN:
“We started talking about how the internet treats when someone dies — specifically, we were thinking about fictional characters, [like when] Iron Man died.
When Iron Man died, we saw an incredible reaction on Twitter and on social media. It’s such a strange phenomenon.”
This led the company to wonder, “What would happen, and how would the world react if [Mr. Peanut] passed away?”
He went on to say:
“We did the unthinkable: we created a program and an idea where Mr. Peanut dies and dies specifically sacrificing himself for his friends, which has always been a tenet of who he is and what he does — he always puts others first.”
You can see how they are trying to evoke the death of Tony Stark here. With this in mind, the second part of the ad, which will debut during the Super Bowl, will likely not include a miraculous fake-out that leaves Mr. Peanut alive, but you have to wonder if he might show up in a pre-recorded hologram.
If you missed the death of Mr. Peanut, you can see it in the video below:
We’re devastated to confirm that Mr. Peanut is gone. He died doing what he did best – having people’s backs when they needed him most. #RIPeanut pic.twitter.com/12PyWYJB7J
— The Estate of Mr. Peanut (@MrPeanut) January 22, 2020
Did you at all think about the death of Iron Man in the MCU when Mr. Peanut died? Now that you know the inspiration for this death, have you viewed the commercial in a different light? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
