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Planters, 'Sports Illustrated' Team For NCAA

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Mr. Peanut has sure come out of his shell since he started to talk.

The Planters icon currently has his own "Ultimate NCAA Bracket Challenge" and banner ads on Sports Illustrated's SI.com, is being featured in spread advertorials in SI print issues, and will soon sponsor an NCAA-themed sweeps on his personal Facebook page (336,000+ fans).

Having his own bracket integrated into SI.com's brackets for the tournament would seem to be a natural for the "Official Nut" of the NCAA. The brand's challenge is being promoted on the opening screen and in the wall of Mr. P's Facebook page, as well as in banner ads on the NCAA and CBS Sports sites.

The promotions drive fans to click through to SI.com and register their email addresses to participate in the branded bracket (registration is required for playing any bracket on the site). Since the Mr. Peanut bracket challenge went live on Sunday, more than 3,300 fans have signed up, reports Lauryn McDonough, brand manager of scale for Planters. Mr. Peanut will be exchanging comments with fans within his bracket challenge area on SI, and those comments will link back into his Facebook page, she notes.

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Once the brackets close before the first tournament game on March 17, the banners will shift to driving sports fans to the character's Facebook page, where users will be entertained with engagement messaging and the launch of a sweepstakes offering a grand prize of tickets to next year's NCAA Final Four. Anyone who "likes" Mr. Peanut on Facebook is eligible to enter to be part of the random drawing.

The first Mr. Peanut Sports Illustrated spread advertorial, in this week's March Madness preview issue, features his best tips on picking brackets. Example: "To be a winner, you have to look like a winner. I always say to dress for the bracket you want, not the bracket you've got. Last year I wore an ascot that incorporated the colors of every team in the tourney, for the entire month of March."

The second SI ad, in the March 30 issue, will highlight tournament-synched activities within Planter's broader "Naturally Remarkable" tour. One is Mr. Peanut's opening of the first Planters Groves community park in New Orleans on March 23, just prior to the Southeast Regionals games in that city. (Mr. P and Planters will also have a significant presence during those games.)

The park inauguration event will also feature a parade and an appearance by the new, eco-friendly Planters Nutmobile. The sustainable Groves, which are reclaiming unused urban space and are also in the works for Washington, D.C., San Francisco and New York City, are being built and maintained in partnership with The Corps Network, which mobilizes volunteers for a variety of community projects.

Other activities tying in with the tournament and the "Naturally Remarkable" initiatives will take place in Houston around the Final Four games. On March 31, during NCAA's Community Initiative Day, Planters will inaugurate a basketball court revitalized through its sponsorship -- the 67th of 68 revitalized in 68 days through an NCAA initiative with various partners.

During the Final Four's three-day weekend between April 2 and 4, attendees will have ample opportunities to interact with Mr. Peanut in and around Reliant Stadium, including opportunities to play hoops with him and have their photos taken with him, according to McDonough.

Mr. Peanut will then share his account of the doings in New Orleans and Houston in a "travel diary" in the third print advertorial, in SI's April 6 post-tournament issue.

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