Mr. Peanut's death postponed due to Kobe Bryant.

Mr. Peanut

Collider: Mr. Peanut’s Death Was Inspired by ‘Avengers: Endgame’.

The plan was that Mr. Peanut’s funeral would be broadcast in a Super Bowl commercial during the third quarter of the big game, but the commercial and all promotional content has been paused indefinitely following the real-life death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant on Sunday.
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Speaking with MSN before the commercial was pulled, Group Creative Director at Planters’ agency VaynerMedia [sic], Mike Pierantozzi, said the idea to kill off Mr. Peanut was inspired by Tony Stark’s death in Avengers: Endgame. No, really:

    “We started talking about how the internet treats when someone dies — specifically, we were thinking about fictional characters, [like when] Iron Man died. When Iron Man died, we saw an incredible reaction on Twitter and on social media. It’s such a strange phenomenon.”
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They went the somber route and took Mr. Peanut’s death incredibly seriously, hyping up his “funeral” that would be broadcast during the Super Bowl. The idea backfired, as we now know, and it’ll be curious to see if and when this “commercial” sees the light of day.

“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,” a spokesperson for Planters reportedly said.

Maybe brands shouldn’t use death as a way to advertise their content? Just a thought.

The Death of Mr. Peanut Super Bowl ad which won't air due to the death of Kobe Bryant:
 

I'm undecided on which is the more stupid move, it's a coin toss. The ad agency so creatively bankrupt that they steal borrow a narrative as old as time itself with their best pitch being killing an iconic Brand character, or the company making the product that approves the killing of its iconic Brand character.

How hard is it to sell the Planter's brand?

A head's-up to Lucky the Leprechaun, Tony Tiger, the Trix rabbit, Mr. Clean and other Brand Characters out there. Beware if your employer hires VaynerMedia as their PR/Ad Reps.
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