Watch Mr. Peanut get roasted by comedians in Super Bowl ad
The spot, from VaynerMedia, is scheduled to air during the third quarter of the Big Game.
JimMin
A lineup of comedians makes savage wisecracks at the expense of Mr. Peanut in “Made to Be Roasted,” the Super Bowl ad from the Hormel-owned nut brand.
The spot, from VaynerMedia, is scheduled to air during the third quarter of the Big Game.
“Roastmaster General” Jeff Ross, known for his work on the “Comedy Central Roast,” is joined by comics Natasha Leggero, Frank Castillo, Atsuko Okatsuka, Yamaneika Saunders, David Lucas, and Sarah Tiana, as they gleefully tear into the legume on the hot seat.
“Why are you dressed like it's five recessions ago?” Leggero asks Mr. Peanut. “I’ll make this quick,” Ross adds, “I know you’ve got some brownies to ruin.”
Given a chance to address his roasters, a shell-shocked Mr. Peanut summons his own cutting wit. “That was brutal,” he says. “I wish Planters had just killed me off again,” referring to a controversial 2020 campaign in which the brand “killed” the mascot in a Nutmobile crash, only to see him reborn weeks later in a Super Bowl ad. The buildup to that spot was paused after basketball legend Kobe Bryant was killed in a plane crash.
VaynerMedia was careful to craft funny lines that were also not offensive. The key is having a “big and diverse writing team” and “capturing multiple perspectives,” Katherine O’Brien, a group creative director at the agency, said during a panel discussion at Tuesday's Ad Age’s Super Bowl Playbook event.
O’Brien added that “you don’t want…a singular point of view that is going to be excluding others. You want to make people happy with your spot, you don’t want to hurt people.”
With more jokes than could fit in a 30-second spot, Planters will stream an extended version of the commercial Sunday at PlantersMadeToBeRoasted.com.
The brand has been soliciting roasts from fans on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, offering a $10,000 prize for the joke judged most creative, unique and relevant to the brand.
“To roast Mr. Peanut, we knew it required the scale and excitement of a proper roast, complete with a live band, hungry crowd, and laugh-out-loud talent,” Rafik Lawendy, head of marketing for Planters, said in a press release, “While you entertain with delicious peanuts at your at-home viewing party, we’ll provide the nutty entertainment.”
