The outpouring of grief around Kobe Bryant’s death this weekend may be powerful enough to affect advertising plans around the Super Bowl.
Kraft Heinz, the large consumer packaged goods company, said Monday it would tamp down an edgy Big Game campaign built around its Planters nuts. In teaser commercials that debuted last week, Mr. Peanut, the beloved and monocled spokes-nut for Planters, was believed to be killed off in a bid to gain attention for an ad slated to run in this Sunday’s Super Bowl. In the vignette, the anthropomorphic legume falls to his death to save actors Matt Walsh and Wesley Snipes. Fox will broadcast the game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Bryant tragedy has made the advertiser cautious. “Planters has paused all campaign activities, including paid media, and will evaluate next steps through a lens of sensitivity to those impacted by this tragedy,” the company said in a statement. Kraft Heinz intends to pull back the paid advertising it had scheduled over the next few days on places like YouTube and Twitter, and potentially on TV. No change has been made at present to the company’s plans for Super Bowl Sunday, where it is expected to run a commercial centered around Mr. Peanut’s funeral.
Introducing Naughty But Nice with Rob Shuter
Meet your new best friend. You know, that friend you text to find out the latest dirt on your work nemesis. Except in this case, it’s about the biggest stars in Hollywood. There isn’t a single celebrity Rob Shuter hasn’t met or personally worked with. So get ready to get the lowdown on your favorite stars every Monday through Thursday, beginning Jan. 20.
Called “America’s Number ONE Gossip Columnist” by The National Enquirer.
Rob ‘Naughty But Nice’ Shuter breaks celebrity news every day on his website NaughtyGossip.com where he delivers all the dish about the stars we love in his naughty but nice signature style.
You can also catch him co-hosting and breaking celebrity news on Good Day New York, The Today Show, The Talk, Wendy Williams Show, CNN, Extra and Z100’s ‘Elvis Duran.’
Previously, Rob was the Huffington Post’s only celebrity columnist and the former executive editor of OK! Magazine. Rob has also hosted his own Saturday night talk show on Mark Cuban’s channel and his own daily morning show, ‘The Gossip Table,’ on VH1! He just celebrated his one-year anniversary on Radio Rob – his subscription-based daily live podcast gossip show!
Breaking some of the biggest entertainment stories, including Jamie Lynn Spears’s pregnancy news, Britney’s first post-meltdown interview, Eva Longoria’s wedding, and baby exclusives for Jessica Alba, Tori Spelling and Mathew McConaughey’s tots, Rob always knows where to find the best scoop.
Before Rob was one of the world’s most successful entertainment reporters, he was a publicist working for Jennifer Lopez, Alicia Keys, P. Diddy, Jessica Simpson and Jon Bon Jovi!
Now he is bringing all this experience to his new show on I HEART MEDIA in his unique cheeky way, that is always a pinch and never a punch!