Planters Rounds Out 100th Anniversary Celebration with Results of Vote for Mr. Peanut's Anniversary Attire
East Hanover, N.J. (November 2, 2006) – America's most loveable legume will continue to sport his current good looks and fashionable attire as Planters heads into its second century of business. As part of its year-long 100 th Anniversary celebration, Planters asked people to vote on whether Mr. Peanut should don a new accessory – a pocket watch, cufflinks or bow tie – or if he should keep his classic image. More than half a million opinions were cast, and today the brand revealed that a majority of voters love the dapper icon just the way he is!
Votes were collected throughout the year on the Planters.com website and during the cross-country Planters centennial NutMobile tour.
"Mr. Peanut is one of America's most beloved icons, so we're not surprised that more than half a million people wanted to have a say in what he might wear next," said Heath Osburn, senior brand manager, Planters. "We're glad we were able to make our 100 th Anniversary celebration fun for everyone and look forward to another century of delivering fresh tasting, quality nuts with Mr. Peanut at the helm."
Mr. Peanut – An Icon of Freshness
Mr. Peanut has been the Planters mascot for 90 years. Originated in 1916 when Virginia schoolboy Antonio Gentile entered and won an art contest to design a Planters symbol, a commercial artist later added a top hat, monocle, cane and gloves. Though he's changed slightly over the years, Mr. Peanut still embodies the Planters brand essence of quality, freshness and great taste.
A Year to Remember
The brand's year-long celebration included a birthday party in New York's Times Square on May 1, the unveiling of a Mr. Peanut statue on Atlantic City's Boardwalk and the cross-country NutMobile tour. The famous Planters billboard in New York's Times Square, where Mr. Peanut and Planters have greeted New Yorkers since the 1930s, also has been updated to reflect the vote outcome.
Planters Today
One hundred years ago, Italian immigrant Amedeo Obici "cracked the nut" on how to deliver fresh-tasting peanuts when he established Planters, known today as America's grandest nut company. Over the past century, Planters has become an American icon and built a reputation for delivering consistently fresh-tasting nuts. Today, the Planters portfolio includes many different product offerings, from cocktail peanuts and jumbo cashews, to unique mixes like NUT·rition™ Heart Healthy Mix, designed to meet today's nutritional needs, and their new line of Nut Lovers Mixes, specially created for nut enthusiasts. Many of Planters products qualify to carry Kraft's Sensible Solution flag, which indicates that these products meet specific "better-for-you" nutrition criteria on a per serving basis. Planters is the flagship brand for the Salted Snacks Category of Kraft Foods Inc., the world's second-largest food and beverage company.
About Kraft Foods
Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT) is one of the world's largest food and beverage companies. For more than 100 years, we've been dedicated to helping people around the world eat and live better. Hundreds of millions of times a day, in more than 150 countries, consumers reach for their favorite Kraft brands including Kraft cheeses and dinners, Jacobs, Gevalia and Maxwell House coffees, Oscar Mayer meats, DiGiorno pizzas, Oreo cookies, Ritz and Wheat Thins crackers and chips, Philadelphia cream cheese, Milka and Côte d'Or chocolates, Honey Bunches of Oats cereals, Good Seasons salad dressings and Tang and Capri Sun refreshment beverages. They've also started adding our Tassimo hot beverage system, South Beach Diet lineand a growing range of better-for-you Sensible Solution products to their shopping baskets, continually expanding their list of Kraft favorites.
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Contact:
Mike Gehrig
Weber Shandwick
312-988-2065
mgehrig@webershandwick.com
Laurie Guzzinati
Kraft Foods, Inc.
973-503-4671
Laurie.Guzzinati@kraft.com