The last time Mr. Peanut appeared in a Super Bowl ad, it was for his funeral — and subsequent rebirth.
Now that's all behind the monocled spokesman, or spokesnut, who will face a comedic roasting in a 30-second commercial during Sunday's big game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles.
"When Mr. Peanut called and told me he wanted to be roasted, I almost dropped the phone because I thought he died two years ago," comedian Jeff Ross said in a news release.
Planters, then owned by Kraft Heinz, generated a lot of publicity by killing off the century-old mascot in 2020 ahead of the Super Bowl, only to bring him back to life as Baby Nut during the game. The company skipped the 2021 Super Bowl and donated the $5 million it would have spent on an ad.
Austin, Minn.-based Hormel Foods bought Planters for over $3 billion shortly after, and in 2022 Planters opted for a Super Bowl ad with Ken Jeong and Joel McHale fighting over the proper way to eat mixed nuts.
Mr. Peanut's hard shell will be put to the test this year — "Wow, that was brutal, I wish Planters would just kill me off again," he says during the roast.
A full-length comedy special will be posted online after the third-quarter ad airs Sunday, Planters said.
"No one knows more about the art of roasting than the Planters brand," Rafik Lawendy, head of marketing for Planters, said in a statement.
The NFL's Super Bowl is often the most-watched television event of the year. An estimated 100 million people are expected to watch Sunday's matchup.
After cryptocurrency companies dominated Super Bowl ad space in 2022, this year will mark a return to more food and drink companies shelling out roughly $7 million per 30-second national spot — especially after Budweiser's exclusive contract expired, letting other alcohol companies buy ads.
