Editing Mr. Peanut (section)

== 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 boy named Antonio Gentile submitted drawings of an anthropomorphic peanut to a design contest. His design was selected, and commercial artist Andrew S. Wallach enhanced it by adding the iconic monocle, top hat, and cane. Gentile's family initially received a prize of five dollars for the winning entry. Obici formed a friendship with them and subsequently paid for Antonio and his four siblings to attend college. He also supported Antonio through medical school, allowing him to become a doctor in Newport News, where he passed away from a heart attack in 1939.

There is a disputed claim that artist Frank P. Krize Sr., head of the Suffolk plant, contributed to the design by adding the monocle, top hat, and cane. Wallach's daughter, Virginia, asserts that Krize was involved after Mr. Peanut was already created. However, neither Planters' official history nor other reliable sources have definitively identified the artist behind the character.

By the mid-1930s, Mr. Peanut had become a symbol of the peanut industry and has appeared on nearly every Planters package and advertisement, making him one of the most recognizable icons in advertising history. He has starred in numerous television commercials, often animated, with more recent spots featuring stop-motion animation in real-world settings.

In 2005, Mr. Peanut was featured in MasterCard's "Icons" commercial during Super Bowl XXXIX, showcasing several well-known advertising mascots dining together. In 2006, Planters conducted an online poll to decide whether to add a bow tie, cufflinks, or a pocket watch to Mr. Peanut's attire, but the public chose to keep his look unchanged.

Traditionally, Mr. Peanut was accompanied by an accented narrator in commercials but never spoke. On November 8, 2010, Planters announced that actor Robert Downey Jr. would be the first to provide a voice for Mr. Peanut. In 2011, to promote Planters Peanut Butter, a "stunt double" named Peanut Butter Doug was introduced, voiced by Kevin Dillon.

In 2013, comedian Bill Hader, known for his work on ''Saturday Night Live'', was cast as the voice for a campaign promoting Planters Nut-rition. The Virginia General Assembly honored Mr. Peanut in 2017 with a joint resolution. In 2018, Mr. Peanut was redesigned for the first time since 2009 and returned to being a silent character.

=== Baby Nut and Peanut Jr. ===
On January 22, 2020, Planters teased its Super Bowl LIV commercial featuring Mr. Peanut alongside Wesley Snipes and Matt Walsh. The scene depicted the trio clinging to a branch after accidentally driving the Nutmobile off a cliff to avoid hitting an armadillo. Mr. Peanut chose to let go, falling to his demise onto the Nutmobile, which subsequently exploded. The teaser suggested that his funeral would be central to the Super Bowl ad.

Following the tragic helicopter crash in Calabasas on January 26 that claimed the lives of all passengers, including NBA legend Kobe Bryant, Planters briefly suspended the campaign. They later resumed it with the Super Bowl commercial, which portrayed Snipes and Walsh officiating Mr. Peanut's funeral, attended by other mascots like [[Kool-Aid Man]] and [[Mr. Clean]]. As Kool-Aid Man's tears mixed with sunlight, a younger version of Mr. Peanut, named "Baby Nut," sprouted from the soil.

After the commercial aired, Planters' Twitter account began posting in-character tweets as Baby Nut, even retweeting posts from various Baby Nut meme accounts created prior to the ad's release. This led to Twitter suspending these accounts under the assumption they were part of a coordinated marketing effort violating the platform’s terms of service.

The campaign received mixed reactions, with some viewers drawing comparisons between Baby Nut and other youthful character adaptations, such as [[Grogu]] from ''Star Wars'' and [[Groot (Marvel Cinematic Universe)|Groot]] from ''Guardians of the Galaxy''. A spokesman for Planters' advertising agency explained that the campaign aimed to resonate with audiences, drawing parallels to superhero deaths in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to foster a connection with viewers and potential customers.

In August 2020, Planters introduced a continuation of the campaign, revealing that Baby Nut had aged into a 21-year-old character named "Peanut Jr." This transition sparked even more polarized reactions, with a tweet urging others to block Peanut Jr.’s account going viral.

=== Nut Above: 2021 Refresh ===
The Baby Nut campaign concluded in February 2021, marking the return of Mr. Peanut to adulthood. Planters announced it would not spend $5 million on a dramatic character shift, like dropping him off a cliff. Instead, the company introduced a new campaign titled "A Nut Above," aimed at highlighting individuals who made the world "a little less nutty" in 2020. As part of preparations for the sale of Planters from Kraft to Hormel, Mr. Peanut was relaunched in May 2021 with new commercials featuring a two-dimensional, animated version of the mascot, focusing on the nutritional benefits of its products.