The Idaho Potato Commission’s Big Idaho Potato Truck Tour has been so successful in generating favorable publicity for Idaho potatoes across the country during its first three years that the commission has decided to extend the campaign for another two years.

That announcement was made by Commission President Frank Muir in a presentation at a breakfast meeting Thursday, Aug. 28, during the 86th annual convention of the Idaho Grower Shippers Association in Sun Valley, ID.

Frank Muir with Idaho Potato Grower Mark Coombs, who is featured in the Idaho Potato Commission's TV ads.The commission has also, once again, created a new television ad inspired by the tour and by the success of previous similarly themed ads, Muir said.

The truck, a flatbed big-rig on which is mounted a massive replica of an Idaho potato, has drawn crowds and media attention wherever it has gone, covering nearly every state in the union, most of them multiple times and visiting what Muir referred to as some very iconic places. Everywhere the truck is seen, onlookers take photos and make posts on social media about having seen it.

The Big Idaho Potato Truck’s first national tour served as inspiration for the commission’s 2012-13 national television consumer advertising campaign, featuring Idaho Potato Farmer Mark Coombs in a potato field, lamenting that the truck and crew left home months ago and have not yet returned. In the ad, he holds a poster of the “missing” truck and crew, and asks viewers, “If you see them, please tell them to come home,” as fast cuts show the truck at recognizable landmarks around the country and the crew having a grand time.

The ad was so well received that the theme was repeated in the commission’s 2013-14 campaign. In that ad, Coombs sets off across the country in his pickup truck, with his dog, in search of the still-missing potato truck and crew.

For the 2014-15 television campaign, Coombs and another Idaho potato grower set off in a vintage red-and-white bi-wing airplane in search of the “still-missing” truck. Attendees at the IGSA convention saw a preview of the ad during the breakfast meeting. It was scheduled to debut on television that evening.

Yet another of the commission’s highly successful programs has been extended, Muir said. The Potato Lovers' Month display contest has been growing dramatically, with more stores participating every year. Last year, demand for Idaho potatoes during the February promotion was so great it essentially reached the limit of the capacity of Idaho potato packing facilities to meet the demand. Therefore, for the 2015 Potato Lovers Month, the contest period, which has previously been four weeks in February, will be extended to eight weeks. It will start mid-January and continue into mid-March.

Also for the 2014-15 marketing season, the commission is overhauling its website, Muir said. He also talked about the extensive work the commission is doing with bloggers and in social media.

Muir also previewed the commission’s programs for the coming marketing season in the foodservice sector and in international markets.

The previous day of the convention consisted largely of seminars on a variety of topics ranging from “changing the GMO Conversation” to a discussion of potato consumption trends.

Scheduled for Friday morning included the annual lGSA breakfast meeting, which would include presentations by representatives of the National Potato Council, the U.S. Potato Board and the United Fresh Produce Association, to be followed by the annual golf tournament.