• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, December 12, 2013

The campaign, "Idahoan on Your Table," aims to convey that the homemade taste of the brand's mashed potatoes comes from real ingredients grown by farmers who don't compromise for convenience's sake.

To make the connection, Riester, Idahoan's agency-of-record, used CGI for an opening shot in which acres of potato fields appear to materialize from a tablecloth being cast onto a family's dinner table. 

According to Tom Ortega, chief creative officer of Riester, whose creative staff wrote and oversaw production of the commercial, production company Cosmic Pictures used a video camera mounted on a remote-controlled "octocopter" to capture the sweeping aerial views of the potato field. The imagery and dozens of still photos were then mapped onto the tablecloth using 3D animation.

CGI was also used near the end of the commercial, when a barrel being filled with freshly picked potatoes transformed into a package of Idahoan potatoes.

In between, the 30-second spot shows one of the Idahoan farmers who "love what they grow" (the real owner of the farm at which the ad was shot) walking through the lush fields, followed by footage of a family enjoying the mashed potatoes in their home.

“Our message – field to fork – can't get much more graphic than the opening scene," noted Drew Facer, CEO of Idahoan, a network of growers and producers. "From there, the commercial conveys other values we offer consumers, including 100% real Idaho potatoes, variety of flavors, homemade taste and ease of preparation.”

The spot will air through the holidays on national networks, including ABC Family, The Food Network, Cooking Channel, A&E, Lifetime and TLC. 

It can also be viewed on Idahoan.com and YouTube (where it's drawn more than 1,500 views to date), and as an embedded video  on the brand's Facebook page.

The campaign's digital components include display banners, mobile, social media, pre-roll and takeovers across various food, lifestyle and entertainment Web sites. 

Idahoan's Facebook page currently shows more than 116,000 "likes"; its Twitter page shows about 700 followers.