Mr. Peanut
Mr. Peanut is the advertising logo, mascot and recently, spokes-peanut of Planters, an American snack-food company and division of Kraft Foods. He is depicted as an anthropomorphic peanut in its shell dressed in the formal clothing of an old-fashioned gentleman: a top hat, monocle, white gloves, spats, tights, and a cane.
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History [edit]
Planters Peanuts was founded in 1906, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania by Amedeo Obici. In 1916 the company held a contest to create a company logo. A fourteen year-old schoolboy named Antonio Gentile won the contest with his drawing of a Peanut Man and an artist later added spats, a top hat, a monocle, and a cane to the drawing, and Mr. Peanut, or as Antonio called him, Bartholomew Richard Fitzgerald-Smythe, was born.[1][2]
By the mid-1930s, the raffish figure had come to symbolize the entire peanut industry. Mr. Peanut has appeared on almost every Planters package and advertisement. He is now one of the best-known icons in advertising history.[3]
Mr. Peanut has appeared in many TV commercials as an animated cartoon character. More recent commercials have shown him computer animated in a real-world setting.
In 2006, Planters conducted an online contest to determine whether to add a bow tie, cufflinks, or a pocketwatch to Mr. Peanut. The public voted for no change.[citation needed]
While the character's television commercials were often accompanied by an elegant accented narrator, Mr. Peanut never had dialogue. On November 8, 2010, Planters announced that Mr. Peanut would officially be given a voice, supplied by American actor Robert Downey Jr.[4]
In 2011 Mr. Peanut's "stunt double" named Peanut Butter Doug was introduced to tie-in with the Planter's Peanut Butter launch. The character is voiced by Kevin Dillon.[5]
In literature [edit]
- In the 2010 novel Mr. Peanut, a man fantasizes about killing his peanut-allergic wife by force-feeding her peanuts.[6] "He poured out a handful and ate them and then wiped the salt from his empty hand on his pants. He looked at the chipper Planters Peanuts man tipping his top hat hello and thought about how one bite could kill Alice dead."[7]
In popular culture [edit]
- In an episode of the 1960s sitcom He and She, Dick Hollister greets an overdressed party guest with "Well, it's Mister Peanut!".
- In the twentieth episode of the first season of Friends, when comparing Mr. Peanut with Mister Salty, Joey Tribbiani says Mr. Peanut is a great dresser. Phoebe Buffay, in response, says that Mr. Peanut is homosexual.
- In the fifth season episode New Boss of The Office, Michael states that he thinks Mr. Peanut is classy. Dwight retorts that Mr. Peanut is not classy, and that Michael only thinks so because he has a top hat and a monocle.
- In the second season of American Dad!, Black Mystery Month, Mr. Peanut is used as a clue in a Da Vinci Code-style mystery.
- In the sixth season episode of The Simpsons, Treehouse of Horror VI, in the segment "Attack of the 50-Foot Eyesores", one of the giant monsters resembles Mr. Peanut.
- In the second episode of Freakazoid!, the character Toby Danger (a Jonny Quest parody) dresses up as Mr. Peanut in an attempt to sneak into a casino.
- In season 8, episode 17 of Seinfeld, a woman mistakes George for her boyfriend Neil, a guy who looks just like him. This intrigues George; he wants to meet Neil. While talking with Jerry about him, George speculates about what Neil might looks like and according to this description, Jerry compares Neil to Mr. Peanut.
- Mr. Peanut is a permanent character in the long-running San Francisco musical revue Beach Blanket Babylon.
- In season 11, episode 16 of Frasier, Martin gets a new cane and says "give me a top hat and I'm Fred Astaire". Frasier responds "add a monocle and you're Mr. Peanut."
Gallery [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ Peanut Pals website
- ^ "Planters History of the Planter Nut: Timeline". Retrieved 2010-06-06.
- ^ Smith, Andrew F. (2007). The Oxford companion to American food and drink. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-530796-2. Retrieved December 6, 2010.
- ^ Robert Downey Jr. is Mr. Peanut
- ^ Mr. Peanut Now Selling Planters Peanut Butter
- ^ Sunday Book Review, "Death Match", New York Times
- ^ Ross, Adam (2010). Mr. Peanut. Borzoi Books. p. 265. ISBN 978-0-307-27070-2. Retrieved December 6, 2010.
