We all know about the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile. It’s perhaps the most famous food-shaped promotional vehicle in the world.
But, did you know Planters also has a NUTMobile, which is currently touring the country handing out promotional products and giving fans a chance to take a picture with a giant, street-legal peanut and its anthropomorphic legume owner?
Happy holidays from @MrPeanut! Yesterday we went on a shopping spree for the Boys & Girls Club Holiday Celebration π₯π#nutmobile #happyholidays pic.twitter.com/Ro6yKubqLA
— Planters NUTmobile (@NUTmobile_Tour) December 21, 2022
Thanks a CRUNCH for letting us show you the nuts and bolts of our job! π₯π€ https://t.co/g0gwU4GcU8
— Planters NUTmobile (@NUTmobile_Tour) December 19, 2022
The NUTmobile dates back to 1935. According to KTNV, there have been as many as three NUTmobiles on the roads at a time. These days, however, there’s only one, and it’s guided by three “Peanutters” wearing branded gear: Groundnut Grace, Shell-exa and Crunchtime Kev.
Part of the trip reportedly involves handing out promotional merchandise, of which Planters has a bunch. We obviously keep track of what food brands have been doing with their promotional merchandise, namely apparel, and Planters is following a lot of the same rubrics: ugly sweaters for the holidays, retro designs for T-shirts.
But, there are a few things that stand out as especially creative or even elevated for a company like Planters. There’s a branded snowman kit, which comes with a little hat, cane, scarf and manacled face to make a Mr. Peanut snowman. There’s also a “Dapper Set,” which includes a tie (printed with top hats and peanuts) and peanut cufflinks.
More than anything, it’s cool to see brands bringing a promotional experience to people in real life again. After everything shut down in 2020, companies had to get creative with how to bring promotional experiences to the masses while they were at home. The return of a cross-country voyage like the NUTMobile shows that in-person installations are viable once again. We just saw the same thing with Cadbury, creating fully branded experiences for the holidays.
Planters’ branding experience has everything: An extremely eye-catching first impression with the vehicle, plenty of merchandise ranging from low to high perceived value, and some stellar wordplay on social media.