Bridgestone Americas Wins Potato Head Award

Popular author Bill Bryson may have referred to Mr. Potato Head as being “majestically unamusing”, but this slur upon the classic toy’s entertainment value did not prevent it from achieving star billing at North America’s top sporting event. Along with wife Mrs. Potato Head, the world’s best known tuber appeared in Bridgestone’s advertisements aired during the 2009 Super Bowl – and their presence in these widely-viewed commercials helped Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations (BATO) earn the 2009 Spud Award for Outstanding Marketing Partner of the Year award from Hasbro. The award was presented at the toy maker’s eighth annual Entertainment and Licensing Summit.

Hasbro, which holds the creative and licensing agreements for Mr. and Mrs Potato Head, worked with BATO to debut the famous pair in “Taters”, one of the tyre company’s advertisements aired during the 2009 Super Bowl. The commercial showed the potatoes’ encounter with a herd of sheep while navigating the twists and turns of a steep mountain road in their yellow convertible – equipped, as expected, with Bridgestone tyres. BATO comments that “the hilarious commercial was one of the most popular spots of last year’s Super Bowl.” In addition to its win, BATO was also nominated for Hasbro’s Rookie of the Year award.

“We’re really excited and honoured to earn this recognition from Hasbro,” said Phil Pacsi, vice president, Consumer Tire Marketing, BATO. “Hasbro has been a great partner on this project. Positioning the Bridgestone Brand with Hasbro’s Mr. and Mrs Potato Head characters helped us create a commercial that was entertaining, effectively showcased our tyres and ultimately left a lasting impression on consumers.

“Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations created an amazing commercial that integrated two of our most iconic characters – Mr. and Mrs Potato Head – in an engaging, fun and memorable way. We were thrilled to present their creative team with our 2009 Spud Award for Outstanding Marketing Partner of the Year,” said Maryann Ricci, senior manager, Entertainment & Licensing, Hasbro.

On February 7, (BATO) will showcase two new commercials and serve as the title sponsor of the Bridgestone Super Bowl XLIV Halftime Show, which this year features The Who.