Almonds.

That’s the last nut I remember having its own ad campaign.  It was – I dunno – 15 years ago that the Almond Board of California ran TV spots plaintively asking me to buy one can of almonds . . . what? A month? A year? I forget.

I also forgot to buy the can of almonds.

Now comes an ad campaign for another nut – Wonderful® Pistachios – employing the theme, “Get Crackin’.” According to Reuters:

The $15 million Wonderful Pistachios campaign is the first campaign for the category and features eight celebrity figures demonstrating how they crack open a pistachio, each in their own unique, light-hearted way, through a series of commercials airing on national prime-time programming.

Featured celebrities include Olympic swimmer and record-setting medalist Dara Torres; Brady Bunch alum Christopher Knight and America’s Next Top Model wife Adrianne Curry; Jackass prankster Wee-Man; The Sopranos actor Vincent Pastore; former Miss South Carolina Teen USA Lauren Caitlin Upton; the Denny quintuplets; father of Sarah Palin’s grandchild, Levi Johnston; and a real-life dominatrix.

That gives new meaning to Eight Is Enough, yes?

One TV spot has The Sopranos late, unlamented Big Pussy (Vincent Pastore) using a guy’s head to crack open a pistachio while an announcer says, “Mobsters do it with muscle.”

Another ad features Bristol Palin’s arm candy Levi Johnston, who appears with a big black baldheaded bruiser accompanying him.  As Johnston eats a pistachio nut the announcer says, “Now Levi Johnston does it with protection.”

Bada boom, as Big Pussy would say.