Planters Pauses Promotion of Mr. Peanut's Super Bowl Funeral After Kobe Bryant Dies
January 27 2020 - 2:32PM
Dow Jones News
By Nat Ives
Kraft Heinz Co.'s Planters brand apologized for distributing
prayer candles for Mr. Peanut as part of its Super Bowl campaign
about the mascot's death and said it would consider what's next
after a helicopter crash killed Kobe Bryant.
Other Super Bowl advertisers adjusted their plans to publicize
their expensive ads after the NBA star's death, which set off a
wave of mourning among fans and tributes from brands that worked
with him. Some marketers delayed the release of their Super Bowl
ads from Monday to later in the week.
Procter & Gamble Co.'s Olay and PepsiCo Inc.'s MTN DEW Zero
Sugar delayed the release of their Super Bowl ads, which had been
expected on Monday, for example.
But Planters' stunt, which seemed to generate the most attention
of any Super Bowl campaign so far this year, was also the one most
destabilized by the tragedy.
Planters last week released a commercial in which Mr. Peanut
meets a fiery death saving the lives of actors Wesley Snipes and
Matt Walsh. It said that ad would run during pregame coverage of
the Super Bowl on Sunday, followed by an in-game spot depicting the
104-year-old mascot's funeral.
The Planters website on Monday afternoon featured a
somber-looking tribute to its mascot. "In Memory of Mr. Peanut," it
read.
Killing off a well-known mascot is a good way for a brand to
stand out among a crop of Super Bowl advertisers all striving for
attention. Last year, Anheuser-Busch InBev SA killed its Bud Knight
character during a Super Bowl ad, although it brought him back to
life months later.
The prayer candles were mailed before Mr. Bryant's death, a
spokesman for Planters said. "We deeply regret any offense or upset
caused by this coincidental timing."
"We wanted you to know that we are saddened by this weekend's
news and Planters has paused all campaign activities, including
paid media, and will evaluate next steps through a lens of
sensitivity to those impacted by this tragedy," the spokesman
said.
Asked whether Planters might not show its death-themed ads on
Sunday at all, the spokesman said the brand hasn't made any changes
to those plans. The pause right now affects only paid advertising
on platforms like Twitter and YouTube as well as some other
outreach in the immediate wake of Mr. Bryant's death, he said.
Write to Nat Ives at nat.ives@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 27, 2020 14:17 ET (19:17 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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