# Death of Mr. Peanut

> Planters killed its 104-year-old mascot, then brought him back as Baby Nut.

- Owner: Planters / Kraft Heinz; VaynerMedia (creative)
- Kind: Campaign
- Sector: Food & beverage
- Seed date: 2020-01-22
- Peak proxy date: 2020-02-19
- Date basis: Proxy date; not a directly measured attention peak.
- Spread Score: 46 (Notable), v1.3
- Mechanics: Transgression, Brand pile-on, Press loop, Controversy, Mascot persona

## Summary

Planters announced Mr. Peanut's death and drew brand tributes. It paused paid promotion after Kobe Bryant's death, then revealed Baby Nut at the Super Bowl. Twitter suspended three brand-created meme accounts.

## Timeline

- 2020-01-14 — @MrPeanut (X) — Mr. Peanut announced a Super Bowl road trip with Matt Walsh and told fans to follow it on Twitter.
- 2020-01-22 — @MrPeanut (X) — Planters announced Mr. Peanut’s death and asked people to pay respects with #RIPeanut.
- 2020-01-22 — TIME (Press) — TIME covered the death stunt and the brand tributes on Twitter.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/mr-peanut-death

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Death of Mr. Peanut.” Case HIS-01603. Spread Score v1.3: 46/100. Updated 2026-10-23. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-01603