Former Vancouver mayoral candidate Mr. Peanut dead at 104
Credit to Author: Harrison Mooney| Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2020 00:19:54 +0000
American snack food company Planters announced Wednesday that former Vancouver mayoral candidate Mr. Peanut has died at the age of 104.
A video of the monocled legume’s final moments, which will air during next month’s Super Bowl, explains how he met his untimely end: Mr. Peanut died of explosion after falling from a great height to save the lives of his two friends, moments after the trio was thrown through the windshield of the NUTmobile in a traffic accident.
We’re devastated to confirm that Mr. Peanut is gone. He died doing what he did best – having people’s backs when they needed him most. #RIPeanut pic.twitter.com/TLNPLzH5UE
Peanut-lovers were shocked, as were locals who recalled the talking legume’s unsuccessful run for mayor of Vancouver in 1974 — the culmination of a five-year project in which Berlin-based artist Vincent Trasov, who majored in languages and humanities at the University of British Columbia, appropriated the mascot for his own artistic purposes.
In a 2014 Postmedia interview, Trasov explained that he did not play Mr. Peanut. He was Mr. Peanut.
“Once I got in my shell, I assumed the identity of Mr. Peanut,” he said. It wasn’t Vincent Trasov anymore. People started calling me Mr. Peanut. The name stuck. That’s how I could do my identity change, my research on identity, adopting the identity of Mr. Peanut. Getting out of my own ego.”
Between 1969 and 1974, Mr. Peanut was a fixture in Vancouver, walking, tap dancing and even playing the violin all over town. Eventually, like all of Vancouver’s standout personalities, he ran for public office, paying the $200 deposit and filing nomination papers at city hall.
Mr. Peanut’s platform, which aimed to turn Vancouver into an art city, spelled PEANUT: P for Performance, E for Elegance, A for Art, N for Nonsense, U for Uniqueness, and T for Talent. Over the course of the 20-day campaign, the giant peanut appeared at candidates meetings and other events, injecting levity and irreverence to an otherwise staid mayoral race, and bringing Vancouver national and international attention.
Footage from the unforgettable stunt is widely available on Youtube.
Mr. Peanut’s candidacy received features in Esquire magazine and Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine. Beat writer William S Burroughs, who happened to be in town, even endorsed the goober’s candidacy.
Mr. Peanut didn’t utter a word during or even after his campaign, allowing manager and fellow artist John Mitchell to deliver nutty zingers on his behalf.
“The mayoralty election is something everyone is concerned with and, as artists, we can use this as an open arena,” Mitchell once said. “I’m sure people are as ready for one nut as they are for the next.”
Between 1969 and 1974, Vancouver artist Vincent Trasov assumed the alter ego of the well-known product icon Mr. Peanut as the frame of reference for his artwork at the Royal BC museum.
Amusing and provocative as Mr. Peanut was, in the end, Vancouver’s political establishment proved a tough nut to crack: Mr. Peanut got just 2,685 votes, or 3.4 per cent of total votes cast, losing to incumbent Art Phillips.
But that wasn’t the end of it. In 1999, Trasov was honoured in the Vancouver Sun 100 as an influential British Columbian. And in November 2014, he brought the Mr. Peanut character back to the city for a special pop-up exhibition at the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery to mark the 40th anniversary of his famous campaign.
In short, Mr. Peanut’s legacy in Vancouver lives on, even if the mascot is now dead.
Mr. Peanut inspired millions. He left our hearts aflutter. Then along came an ad campaign, and — toot toot — peanut butter.