The Idaho Potato Commission kicked off another year of exciting marketing activations by launching one of its two new television commercials during ESPN’s live broadcast of the Boise State University vs. Oklahoma State University football game on Saturday, Sept. 15. The IPC is a longtime sponsor of BSU and has made it a tradition to debut its new commercial during a nationally televised game.

This year marks the first time the IPC has created two commercials in one year for the Big Idaho Potato Truck series. The spots feature Farmer Mark, the Big Idaho Potato Truck along with two other fan favorites: the Spud Hound and the 1955 Studebaker. The commercials will air concurrently beginning Oct. 22 through the beginning of April 2019 on national networks, including CNN, Fox News, CNN Headline News and the Food Network. Like last year, they will stream on HULU -- reaching folks who prefer to watch TV shows and movies online. The commercials will also air for the first time ever on Access Hollywood, Live with Kelly, The Price is Right and CBS All Access.

“Every year we evaluate the effectiveness of our Missing advertising campaign, and it’s evident that the popularity of the commercials and the Big Idaho Potato Truck is still growing exponentially,” said Frank Muir, president and chief executive officer of IPC. “This is an especially unique year for us. We’re launching two new commercials and airing them on programs we’ve never advertised on before allowing us to reach millions of new consumers.”

While both commercials continue to center on the farmer’s ongoing search for the Big Idaho Potato Truck, they have very different storylines. “First Bite” insightfully recognizes that whenever a meal is served with Idaho potatoes, the first bite is always the potato. In “Secret Weapon” the farmer uses a Wile E. Coyote-like tactic to try to catch the Big Idaho Potato Truck. If you’re familiar with the popular cartoon you can probably guess what happens. To view the new commercials, visit the IPC’s YouTube Channel: First Bite and Secret Weapon.