What's right with this picture?

Everywhere around the offices of The Packer and Produce Merchandising editorial staff, and in some field offices (Pamela, am I right?) , writers and editors have sponge fruit and vegetables of various origin. Go to any produce convention and you may see a slew of sponge produce; even The Packer offered a stress-relieving tomato sponge at one show.

In the past year, however, the desks and window ledges of many of our staff (Chris Crawford, above) are filled with all the sponge produce from the Idaho Potato Commission's "What's wrong with this picture?" trade advertising campaign.

Reinforcing the association of the Idaho logo and potatoes, the Idaho Potato Commission trade advertising for the 2006-07 season featured oranges, peppers, coconuts, limes, watermelon, pears, cantaloupe, eggplant, banana, and a couple of other items. The promotion -- accompanied by the tagline "What's wrong with this picture?" -- sought to illuminate one of the best-known commodity brands in the produce industry. The commission sent sponge produce to retailers, reinforced by a print advertising campaign. The campaign started in September and culminates this August.

So I'm picturing that many a produce buyer's window ledge or desk is likewise populated with these colorful produce sponges.

Just today we received the last item in the series. Of course, instead of saying, "What's wrong with this picture?", the picture perfect spud bearing the Idaho logo asks, "What's right with this picture?"

Well done, IPC. You have captured our imagination and our desk space.