Peanut Jr.— a.k.a the former Baby Nut—is apparently into cheap beer. Planters today unveiled a limited edition run of beer-flavored peanuts co-branded with Natural Light as part of its marketing stunt surrounding the rapidly aging spokesnut.
We should have seen this one coming: Natural Light is an economy beer brand owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev, which like Planters owner Kraft Heinz has ties to Brazilian investment firm 3G Capital.
The Planters-Natural Light collaboration was the brainchild of VaynerMedia, and is part of a wider bid to hype the spokesnut reaching the legal drinking age in America.
This comes after Baby Nut, who was introduced in February during Planters’ controversial Super Bowl ad, morphed into Peanut Jr. earlier this month as a way to connect with consumers whose birthdays have gone by with little to no fanfare due to COVID-19 quarantine measures.
“Peanut Jr. still has a lot to learn, like what his favorite go-to drink is, as he continues to grow up to become a peanut of the people,” the Kraft Heinz-owned snack brand said at the time. Well, now we have our answer: the 21-year-old mascot drinks Natty Light, a longtime favorite of penny-pinching college students.
“Nothing goes together like beer and nuts. We are thrilled to work with Natural Light to make the union official with beer flavored peanuts,” said Mike Pierantozzi, an Executive Creative Director at VaynerMedia.
The Natural Light-infused Planters peanuts go on sale today and will be available while supplies last.
The greater “Shellabration” campaign, which includes video spots, in-store promotion and a cash sweepstakes, will run through the end of September.
This is not the first time Planters has done a beer collaboration. In 2018, it came out with a limited-time Planters-branded IPA in collaboration with Chicago-area-based craft brewer Noon Whistle Brewing that was only sold in Illinois.