I have been seeing the updated Mr. Peanut on TV playing baseball and other assorted activities, then also ran across an article on iMedia Connection that talks about how the Planters icon got a facelift.
My favorite phrase in the article is "monocled legume," which got me thinking about what would have happened if Crispin Porter + Bogusky had the Planters account. I could see MonocledLegume.com as the campaign's focal point, much like Subservient Chicken and Pet Moustache for their Burger King efforts.
That sent me in another direction, thinking about brands that can support promoting those types of gimmick Web sites and domain names that are not their core sites. Clearly brands that do their business exclusively online, like Amazon, eBay or Indeed (where I work), don't want to dilute the brand or their traffic by promoting domain names other than their main sites. The companies with a physical presence and product, where the Web site supports the brand but does not represent it in total, seem to have more flexibility with their online identities. CP+B clients BK and VW are good examples.
Johnson Banks (via kottke) has a great post on brands that have applied that flexibility to their logos.
