Mr. Peanut doles out 'nutstalgia' for holidays with music video, gift boxes

Dive Brief:

Planters brand Mr. Peanut is embracing "nutstalgia" in an effort tied to the holiday season, according to a press release. The brand teamed with actor Reginald VelJohnson ("Die Hard," "Family Matters") for an original, '80s-inspired song and music video titled "A Nutty Holiday."
Consumers can also enter for a chance to win one of 7,800 Planters holiday gift boxes that include branded swag, classic board games, a Bluetooth cassette boombox and a classic movie made available on DVD and as a download.
The Planters holiday campaign utilizes several trends popular with CPG marketers and comes months after the snack marketer was purchased by Hormel Foods.

Dive Insight:

Planters and Mr. Peanut are bringing together several marketing tactics as part of its holiday campaign. The original "A Nutty Holiday" song and music video feature VelJohnson, best known for '90s sitcom "Family Matters" and his supporting role in "Die Hard." The debate over whether or not the latter is a Christmas movie is referenced in the video, helping the brand be a part of cultural conversations timed to the season, and comes as CPG brands are shifting their campaigns to better engage with culture.

"A Nutty Holiday" and the retro-themed gift box also tie in to '80s and '90s nostalgia, which has been utilized by a variety of brands to engage with different cohorts, especially millennials. The gift boxes also look to connect with families hoping to reunite this season after the pandemic upended the holidays in 2020.

"Over the past 115 years, the Planters brand has been a part of everyone's holiday celebrations," said Jaynee Dykes, associate marketing director for the brand, in the press release. "We also want to spread the holiday cheer directly to our fans with our nutstalgia gift boxes, bringing people from past and present generations together to celebrate this season in a memorable way after a year apart."

The gift box contains a variety of branded merchandise — another tactic popularized by CPG and QSR companies seeking to make their brands part of consumers' everyday lives. By using a microsite to collect entries, Planters can collect valuable first-party data that has become a priority for marketers as they prepare for the deprecation of third-party cookies and other identifiers.

The holiday campaign is one of Planters' most notable campaigns since the company was acquired by Hormel Foods in June 2021. Previously, the brand underwent a refresh in advance of the sale, tapping VaynerMedia and JKR to make over its Mr. Peanut mascot after several 2020 rebranding efforts received mixed reviews.