Quest for the Big Idaho Potato Truck continues

Farmer Mark returns to the small screen to finally catch the Big Idaho Potato Truck … or does he?

The eighth season of TV commercials featuring the “Actual Idaho Potato Farmer” Mark (Coombs, of Caldwell, Idaho), continues his quest to catch up with the truck. The Idaho Potato Commission has two spots this year — “First Bite” and “Secret Weapon” — the latter being a reference to a plan Wile E. Coyote would be proud of.

The commercials began airing Oct. 22 and will continue through April, appearing on CNN, Fox News, CNN Headline News and The Food Network, according to a news release. They’ll also stream on Hulu. For the first time, the ads are set to air during “Access Hollywood,” “Live with Kelly,” “The Price is Right” and “CBS All Access.”

This is the first time the commission has had two ads in a season.

“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,” Frank Muir, president and CEO of the Idaho Potato Commission, said in the release. “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.”