Story by Ronald Ahrens

In a television ad for the Idaho Potato Commission, which last year observed its diamond jubilee, a flatbed truck goes missing while on tour with a giant potato. Among the many American landmarks visited in the twenty-five-second spot is a railroad crossing with a concrete grain elevator in the background.

The spot, called “Missing Truck,” was created by Evans, Hardy & Young. Its debut came Aug. 31, 2012, during the Boise State-Michigan State football game on ESPN. The storyline and airing schedule were detailed in a press release on the Idaho Potato Commission’s website.

Although we find nothing in the scene to indicate the exact location, the elevator sure looks to us like a Tillotson Construction job. The rounded headhouse and symmetrically placed windows tell as much. The slot for the driveway also is indicative.

So we phoned the Santa Barbara, Calif., office of EH&Y and left a voice message with Max Martens, vice president for public relations. Replying by email, Mr. Martens wrote, “As close as the art director can pinpoint, the location with the grain elevator was a rural area about a half hour west of Dallas, Texas.”

That’s more than we had to go on.

Meanwhile, we hope the truck and potato made it back to Idaho.

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• It looks like a Tillotson elevator in Bird City, Kansas, but it’s a surprise instead (ourgrandfathersgrainelevators.com)
• Tillotson Construction’s classic elevator makes a good neighbor in Clifton, Kansas (ourgrandfathersgrainelevators.com)