Eagle, Idaho –When the Big Idaho® Potato dropped at midnight in front of the Capitol Building on New Year’s Eve, the Big Idaho® Potato Truck, which was front and center for the “spudtacular” show, officially ended its 2018 tour. And what a year it was! The Truck…
- Traveled 40,000+ miles
- Participated in 68 scheduled events
- Four events had over 300K attendees
- St. Patricks’ Day Parade, Pittsburgh, PA
- Art Car Parade, Dallas, TX
- National Memorial Day Parade, Washington, D.C.
- Rose Festival, Portland, OR
- 15 events had over 100K attendees, including
- Indianapolis Indy Car Race, Indianapolis, IN
- NASCAR, Bristol, TN
- St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Hilton Head, SC
- Pegasus Parade, Louisville, KY
- SeaFair Festival, Seattle, WA
- Four events had over 300K attendees
- Donated $12,000 to 21 charities across the country through its “A Big Helping” program
- Was invited to appear at American Idol’s Semi-Finals in Coeur D’Alene, ID
- Generated more than 300 million media impressions
However the biggest news of the year was the unveiling of Big Idaho®Potato 2.0. Weighing in at 4 tons, the fiberglass potato is just as impressive as the original, but with a few subtle differences. The potato is still 28 feet long and 11.5 feet high, but it’s a little trimmer in the middle (10 feet wide), and two tons lighter so it can travel to more places. The original potato, which was only supposed to last one year, became too road worn to travel and now resides in its home state of Idaho.
“The Big Idaho® Potato Truck continues to drive many of our marketing campaigns. It’s the focus of our national television commercials, it helps promote the potato’s impressive nutritional profile and generates hundreds of millions of impressions for the Idaho® potato brand,” explained Frank Muir, President & CEO, Idaho Potato Commission. “Now that we’ve got a new fiberglass potato, there’s no end in sight for the biggest potato on wheels.”
After seven years the Truck’s track record is pretty impressive…
- The average tour length is 6 months
- The Truck has traveled approximately 211,722 miles
- It’s attended events in 651 cities/towns
- 46 events had more than 300,000 people in attendance
- 76 events had more 100,000 people in attendance
- The Truck has traveled through more than 10,000 cities and towns, nationwide and all lower 48 states
- “A Big Helping” has donated $67,000 to 124 charities located across the country
- Millions have taken pictures of the Big Idaho® Potato Truck on their mobile devices
- Every day we receive appearance requests from fans, festivals, and events, all over the country
- Media coverage to date is in the billions!
The 2019 Big Idaho® Potato Truck Tour schedule will be available in early February 2019 atwww.bigidahopotato.com.
About the Idaho Potato Commission
Established in 1937, the Idaho Potato Commission (IPC) is a state agency that is responsible for promoting and protecting the famous “Grown in Idaho®” seal, a federally registered trademark that assures consumers they are purchasing genuine, top-quality Idaho® potatoes. Idaho’s growing season of warm days and cool nights, ample mountain-fed irrigation and rich volcanic soil, give Idaho® potatoes their unique texture, taste and dependable performance. These ideal growing conditions are what differentiate Idaho® potatoes from potatoes grown in other states. For more information, visit www.idahopotato.com.