Tustin : Planters Shells Out Nuts for Big Display

The Planters Peanuts company made a bid Thursday to join the Guinness Book of World Records for constructing what may be the world’s largest peanut collection.

The giant display, constructed in the middle of the night, consisted of 10,000 cases of nuts that amounted to 120,000 cans of peanuts, cashews and mixed nuts.

“No one has ever tried to do this before so we think we have a nice, healthy record,” said Planters spokeswoman Marta Swift. “We thought this would be a good way to celebrate Mr. Peanut’s 75th birthday.”

Mr. Peanut, the company’s mascot, was on hand both in human form and in the form of a 20-foot helium balloon that drew the attention of dozens of people in the area.

“We were just driving by and we saw Mr. Peanut in the parking lot,” said Karen Gervais, a resident of Rancho Santa Margarita. “We parked the car and came to see what all the commotion was about.”

The display was put together in three hours by Larry Verner, 27, a warehouse worker for a local Planters distributor, who said the process went smoothly.

“The only thing that happened was when a man came by at around 2 a.m. and asked for a can of cashews,” Verner said.

The event, which included a performance by Tustin High School’s marching band, was staged not only to set a world record but to present the Orange County chapter of the American Red Cross with a $5,000 donation from Sav-On Drugs. The company allowed the display to be built in front of its store at 671 E. 1st St.

Tustin Mayor Charles E. Puckett, a self-professed peanut-lover, polished off two sample bags of Planters’ honey-roasted brand and stuffed a third bag in his pocket as he prepared to leave the shopping center.

“I’ve never witnessed anything quite like this,” Puckett said. “It is certainly the largest collection of nuts I’ve ever seen.”