Mr. Peanut
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Mr. Peanut is the advertising logo and mascot 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, and a cane.
History
Planters Peanut Company was founded in 1906, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania by Amedeo Obici and was incorporated two years later as the Planters Nut and Chocolate Company. In 1916 a young schoolboy Antonio Gentile, submitted drawings of an anthropomorphic peanut, a commercial artist, Andrew S. Wallach added the monocle, top hat and cane to create the iconic image. The schoolboy's family is believed to have received five dollars for the submission. [1]
There is a disputed claim that Frank P. Krize, Sr., a Wikes-Barre artist and head of the Suffolk plant, made the additions of the monocle, top hat and cane. Andrew Wallach's daughter, Virginia, maintains that Frank P. Krize joined the project after Mr. Peanut was created. Planter's history and other sources still in circulation, do not positively identify the artist. [2][3]
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.[4]
Mr. Peanut has appeared in many TV commercials as an animated cartoon character. More recent commercials have shown him stop motion 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.[5]
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.[6]
Planters announced on July 1, 2013 that its mascot, Mr. Peanut, would be voiced by comedian and Saturday Night Live alumnus Bill Hader,[7] who is ironically allergic to peanuts.[8]
In literature
- In the 2010 novel Mr. Peanut, a man fantasizes about killing his peanut-allergic wife by force-feeding her peanuts.[9] "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."[10]
In popular culture
- The artist Vincent Trasov, dressed as Mr. Peanut, ran as a joke candidate in the 1974 Vancouver, British Columbia civic elections.[11]
- In November 2010, The New Yorker magazine published a spoof confession by Mr. Peanut that he is gay and in a relationship with his new sidekick, Benson.[12]
- Mr. Peanut appears as a monster in the online game Kingdom of Loathing.[13]
References
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- ↑ Sunday Book Review, "Death Match", New York Times
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