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Planters gets back into the peanut butter business

Bob Moon Jun 23, 2011
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Planters gets back into the peanut butter business

Bob Moon Jun 23, 2011
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HOST: As of today Mr. Peanut is going back to selling peanut butter. There hasn’t been a Planters brand of peanut butter in this country for several decades but its parent company Kraft has decided to re-enter the market — with a kick-off commercial today on Facebook .

As our senior business correspondent Bob Moon
tells us, the new pitch isn’t aimed at kids.


BOB MOON: Smuckers has Jif, Unilever has Skippy, ConAgra has Peter Pan. Kraft hasn’t sold peanut butter in the U.S., even though it acquired the Planters brand a decade ago. Now, the company hopes to carve out a niche, by deviating from what’s been an almost universal pitch for peanut butter over the years:

TV AD: Choosy moms choose Jif.
COMMERCIAL JINGLE: Mama loves me, and I got a hunch, that she’ll always put Skippy, in my lunch.

TRIONA SCHMELTER: Over two-thirds of peanut butter volume is consumed by adults, and not kids.

Triona Schmelter is senior director of marketing for Kraft. She points out targeting the adult market is a natural outgrowth of Kraft’s health-oriented focus with the Planters brand.

SCHMELTER: We have seen the usage of peanut butter growing among adults, I think with the realization that it’s a very tasty way to get great nutrition.

Don’t expect the new ad campaign to be all serious. Planters has had fun lately with a rival to its own Mr. Peanut named Alejandro Almond.

PLANTERS AD: Did someone call Alejandro? Oh, he’s so bold! Well, you know what they say about almonds. Ole!

Today, a new character joins the mix: Get ready for no kidding Peanut Butter Doug.

I’m Bob Moon for Marketplace.

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