Roger DuPuis | Times Leader

Roger DuPuis | Times Leader

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Planters Peanuts has put promotion of Mr. Peanut’s upcoming funeral on hold following the death of basketball star Kobe Bryant and eight other people in a helicopter crash.

“We are saddened by this weekend’s news and 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 released Monday.

Planters announced the 104-year-old mascot’s “death” Jan. 21 in a video that showed him plunging into a ravine following a vehicle accident, just as the wrecked NUTmobile exploded.

The company said last week a funeral for Mr. Peanut will air during the third quarter of Super Bowl LIV this weekend.

On Sunday, Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter and seven others were killed in a helicopter crash on a steep hillside in dense morning fog in Southern California.

According to trade publication adweek.com, that “pause” to Planters’ #RIPeanut campaign only applies to the brand’s paid efforts on platforms like Twitter and YouTube. The Super Bowl spot, which features Mr. Peanut’s funeral, will air as planned, Adweek added.

Even before Sunday’s fatal helicopter crash, the Planters campaign had drawn ire and sadness from many fans of the iconic character, especially here in Wilkes-Barre, where Planters got its start in 1906.

Mr. Peanut, a dapper nut who wears a top hat and monocle and walks with a cane, was created in 1916 by Antonio Gentile, 13, in response to a trademark contest by Planters. Though his design has been subtly altered over the years, he has remained the company’s mascot ever since, even though multiple changes of ownership.

In an editorial last week, the Times Leader argued that Mr. Peanut and his fans deserved better, saying the character “has been part of our lives long enough to be an American icon” and “it’s not nice to play with people’s emotions this way.”

That was a view echoed not just by the newspaper’s readers, but by others in online posts.

Meredith Haggerty, a deputy editor with Vox.com’s The Goods, tweeted that Planters’ decision to pause the campaign “really highlights how maybe a joke funeral was never an awesome brand idea.”

“Leaving aside, god, so much stuff, the gamble that no one would die and reveal this ad to be gross and weird was a dumb, pricey one,” Haggerty added.