Planters’ newest Super Bowl commercial teaser took a tragic turn—off a cliff, to be exact—when Mr. Peanut made the ultimate sacrifice: himself.
It’s a tough loss, no doubt, and the news of such magnitude caused quite a stir on the internet. By midday, the hashtag #RIPeanut was trending. And that’s great for Planters, and really, great for fans of Matt Walsh and Wesley Snipes, too (assuming that branch doesn’t break).
But—as social media can often do—the news wasn’t all well and good, especially for Bears and Panthers fans, and one Mr. Charles Tillman. The former cornerback, who is known as “Peanut,” had to take to the social airwaves and explain that, just because there was a trending hashtag from a reliable news source such as Twitter, it didn’t necessarily mean he was deceased. (I like to call this the Betty White Effect.)
Different Peanut! 🥜🥊 #Imalive https://t.co/VfJtMNxkfM
— Charles Tillman (@peanuttillman) January 22, 2020
My reaction that @peanuttillman is alive and well. 😃 pic.twitter.com/kK1wl1tvxS
— John Ellis (@OnePantherPlace) January 22, 2020
Wrong ‘Peanut.’ Right ‘Peanut.’ Not since the days of Charles Schulz have we seen such legume-pop culture hysteria.
And that, folks, is what you call a win–win!
(Unfortunately, this news hasn’t erased the fact that the Bears drafted Mitch Trubisky instead of Patrick Mahomes.)