By Heather Taylor, Editor-in-Chief, PopIcon
Brand mascot. Tastemaker. Style icon. And now, movie star! PLANTERS very own Mr. Peanut is making his film debut in Netflix’s original new film “The Electric State” on Friday March 14.
“The Electric State” stars actors Chris Pratt and Millie Bobby Brown. Set in an alternate version of the 1990s and in the aftermath of a robot war, a teenager travels across America alongside a robot, a smuggler and the smuggler’s sidekick to find her lost younger brother.
Where does Mr. Peanut come in? According to PLANTERS, the trio encounter the robotic version of Mr. Peanut (voiced by Woody Harrelson) during their adventures.
Funny enough, the robotic Mr. P is giving us flashbacks of the character’s previous design iterations. Does anyone else remember Mr. Peanut circa 2010 when he was voiced by actor Robert Downey Jr.? Or earlier still, when his design featured a visibly darker shell? Nice to see that in the alternate version of the 1990s, a robotic Mr. Peanut looks awfully like the legume we know and love.
He’s not the only PLANTERS icon making an appearance in the film. The PLANTERS NUTmobile also has a starring role: presumably giving its stars a ride to speed up trekking along on this journey. (We will keep our fingers crossed in advance that nothing should go amiss for Mr. Peanut or the NUTmobile. Living through #RIPeanut once was too many times to experience a brand mascot death on screen!)
I mentioned towards the start of this year that 2025 is shaping up to be the year of the brand mascot. We’re holding fast to that belief here at PopIcon and really excited about where Mr. Peanut’s burgeoning film career will take him next. 2025, Netflix. 2026, the Academy Awards? We know his dapper red carpet looks would land him on every Best Dressed list!
Congrats to your first major movie role, Mr. Peanut! We’ll be watching on March 14: with a bowl full of PLANTERS peanuts and popcorn for your big streaming debut.
Image credit: PLANTERS/Hormel Foods Corporation
About the Author
Heather Taylor is the senior writer and editor-in-chief of PopIcon, Advertising Week’s blog about brand mascots. Got a pitch on brand mascots or want to wax nostalgic about characters? Drop her a line at howveryheather@gmail.com.
