The Idaho Potato Commission (IPC) is a

marketing board A marketing board is an organization created by many producers to try to market their product and increase consumption and thus prices. It can also be defined as an organization set up by a government to regulate the buying and selling of a certain ...

that represents the

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

growers of the U.S. state of

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

. The group's main initiative is ''Grown in Idaho'' — a

collective trade mark A collective trademark, collective trade mark, or collective mark is a trademark owned by an organization (such as an association), used by its members to identify themselves with a level of quality or accuracy, geographical origin, or other charac ...

program for marketing Idaho-grown potatoes, products containing them, and accompanying advertising campaigns. The McRae family owns the

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others ...

"Idaho" in the United States in connection to any potato-based product.

History

The Idaho Potato Commission was established in 1937 as the Idaho Fruit and Vegetable Advertising Commission, primarily responsible to promote the

es,

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion ...

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

s and

prune A prune is a dried plum, most commonly from the European plum (''Prunus domestica''). Not all plum species or varieties can be dried into prunes. A prune is the firm-fleshed fruit (plum) of ''Prunus domestica'' varieties that have a high solu ...

s produced in Idaho. Maine was the biggest potato producer of the country back then. In its first year of operations, the Commission spent a little over $20,000 in advertising, and $58,000 the year after. The commission introduced the "Grown in Idaho"

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...

in 1959 to help elevate the visibility of Idaho potatoes. In 1939, the Commission removed apples and prunes from its campaigns, and changed its name to Idaho Advertising Commission In the 1950s, the Commission was facing multiple cases of violations of the Grown in Idaho label. The Commission tested a system to stamp all potatoes for 20 years, to no avail. The "Packed in Idaho by" label was created in 1959. In the early 1990s, the Commission started talks with toy company

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of ...

to use

Mr. Potato Head Mr. Potato Head is an American toy brand consisting of a plastic model of a potato "head" to which a variety of plastic parts can attach — typically ears, eyes, shoes, hat, nose, pants and mouth. Mr. Potato Head was invented and manufact ...

as its state's mascot. Before the deal was sealed, the movie ''

Toy Story ''Toy Story'' is a 1995 American computer-animated comedy film directed by John Lasseter (in his feature directorial debut), produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The first installment in the '' Toy Story ...

'' was released and the plan was dropped. In 1983, the Commission had already introduced a mascot, Potato Buddy, a cowboy potato cartoon that became Spuddy Buddy in 1994. From 2004 to 2008, Idaho Potato Commission was a major sponsor of the

SpudFest The SpudFest Family Film and Music Festival was an annual film festival which was established in Driggs, Idaho, U.S.A. in the summer of 2004 by Dawn Wells, the original Mary Ann from '' Gilligan's Island''. It was founded as a natural outgrowth ...

Family Film & Music Festival in Driggs, Idaho.

was an annual film festival which was established in Driggs,

, U.S.A. in the summer of 2004 by

Dawn Wells Dawn Elberta Wells (October 18, 1938 – December 30, 2020) was an American actress known for her role as Mary Ann Summers on the CBS sitcom ''Gilligan's Island''. Early life Wells was born to Evelyn (née Steinbrenner) and Joe Wesley Wells ...

, the original Mary Ann from ''

Gilligan's Island ''Gilligan's Island'' is an American sitcom created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz. The show's ensemble cast features Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, Tina Louise, Russell Johnson and Dawn Wells. It aired for thr ...

''. In June 2009, the Idaho Fry Company agreed to change its name to the Boise Fry Company due to a complaint by the IPC over infringement of its "Idaho" trademarks. In August 2011, the IPC reached a six-year agreement to become title sponsor of the

Humanitarian Bowl The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, previously the Humanitarian Bowl (1997–2003, 2007–2010) and the MPC Computers Bowl (2004–2006), is an NCAA-sanctioned post-season college football bowl game that has been played annually since 1997 at Albertson ...

Boise Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown area' ...

, renaming it the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. The group also announced that it would launch a new marketing campaign featuring

Denise Austin Denise Austin (née Katnich; born February 13, 1957) is an American fitness instructor, author, and columnist, and a former member of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. Early life Austin was born in San Pedro, Los Angeles, ...

during the upcoming college football season. In December 2017, the sponsorship was renewed through 2021.

In 2012, to mark its 75th anniversary, the IPC unveiled the "Big Idaho Potato Truck"—a touring

flatbed truck A flatbed truck (or flatbed lorry in British English) is a type of truck which can be either articulated or rigid. As the name suggests, its bodywork is just an entirely flat, level 'bed' with no sides or roof. This allows for quick and easy load ...

carrying a -tall potato sculpture. The truck was originally intended to tour

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...

s across the United States throughout the year, and be retired afterwards. However, positive public reception to the Potato Truck led to it becoming a long-term campaign; the truck would make stops at sporting events and other public events across the country, and was also featured in the IPC's television advertising. In June 2018, after five years, the IPC unveiled a second iteration of the potato with a more durable construction.

Governance

In January 2014, Peggy Grover was the first woman to be appointed to the board of the Idaho Potato Commission. In September 2017, Mary Hasenoehrl was the second woman to be appointed member of the board, and the first woman to represent growers on the board.

References

External links

* {{authority control Potato Commission Food industry trade groups

Potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

Potato organizations 1937 establishments in Idaho Agricultural organizations based in the United States