MetLife has been synonymous with the Peanuts characters for as long as many people can remember. While Charles Schulz created the Peanuts cartoon characters in 1950, it wasn’t until 1985 that MetLife adopted these characters for its advertising campaigns. However, this could be the last year for the MetLife and Peanuts relationship as the contract expires this year. For this Throwback Thursday, we thought we would visit a classic time when cartoon characters and brands were more interlinked, especially around the holiday season.
After being scored by 500+ consumers, MetLife’s Thanksgiving-themed ad, “Peanuts Thanksgiving,” received a score of 617, which is a celebratory 22% above the MetLife norm. This didn’t surprise us. In fact, MetLife’s ads that feature the Peanuts characters tend to score higher when compared to those without the characters.
The Emotional Sentiment score for “Peanuts Thanksgiving” was 69, 35% above the category norm. This may not be too surprising considering the emotional appeal of these lovable cartoon characters and the nostalgia many people hold for the whole Peanuts gang.
Snoopy and friends really carried this ad to bring it #TBT glory. When consumers were asked what they believed was the best part of the ad, 36% said it was the “characters” that really stood out in the spot.
“Peanuts Thanksgiving” did extremely well in terms of Likeability and Attention. With an Attention score of 724, consumers found the ad appealing, scoring it 15% above the 90-day norm for Other Insurance. Even more extraordinary was the score in Likability, which reached 730, a 17% increase compared to the category’s 90-day Likeability norm.
When looking through the 321 open-ended responses from consumers, an interesting trend begins to appear. Though MetLife has been around for much longer than the Peanuts, the adorable characters are what consumers called out most. The insurance brand’s name emerges in about 9% of the responses while the Peanuts are mentioned in 14% of responses. Having massively recognizable mascots has helped MetLife maintain a happy marriage with the Peanuts’ character icons.
