Potato giant Albert Bartlett has taken promotion of its branded Rooster potatoes out of this world through a new partnership with upcoming Hollywood film The Martian.
A press campaign and competition giveaway will link the Scottish firm with the Matt Damon-starring blockbuster, offering the chance for a a four-day trip to Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, in Florida, for a family of four, as well as £2,000 spending money.
On-pack stickers will feature on over a million bags of potatoes for a month from mid September, backed up by advertising in national newspapers and a new microsite to support the competition.
Michael Jarvis, head of marketing at Albert Bartlett, said: “Our famous Rooster potatoes are red skinned and a healthy food, so the link with a lone astronaut surviving on potatoes on the red planet was too strong to miss.
“Luckily, our potatoes are easier to obtain than they were for Mark Watney – you can buy them in most supermarkets across the UK.”
The film, set for release on 30 September, tells how astronaut Mark Watney (Damon) is left behind on Mars with only a few supplies, and sets about growing a field of potatoes on which he will survive during the following weeks. “I am the greatest botanist on this planet,” he declares, while on Mars alone.
Based on a best-selling novel, and helmed by director Ridley Scott, The Martian’s star-studded cast includes Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Kate Mara, Michael Pena, Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Donald Glover.
In 1995, potatoes became the first vegetable grown in space when astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia grew potatoes in its Astroculture plant growth facility.
This year, three American astronauts ate red romaine lettuce grown on board the International Space Station, further demonstrating that fresh potatoes and other vegetables can be grown in micro-gravity inside an in-orbit plant growth facility.
