So why didn't (Mr. Potatohead creator George) Lerner and the Spud State click? Hard feelings, that's why. Look, back when Dirk Kempthorne won landslide election as mayor of Boise in 1985, Mr. Potato Head received four write-in votes. I don't think either of them were happy about that. Ten years later, when Kempthorne was in the U.S. Senate, the Idaho Potato Commission introduced Spuddy Buddy - a 16-inch-tall, bald stuffed tater with a red sweater and no discernible trousers - as its official mascot. After he became Idaho governor in 1997, Kempthorne started doing TV commercials with an animated version of Spuddy. Mr. PH, limited to a token tribute display at the Idaho Potato Expo in Blackfoot, simply got no love in Idaho - despite his meteoric rise to fame as a consequence of the "Toy Story" movies/Steve Crump, Twin Falls Times-News. More here.

Question: Why do you think Idaho has ignored Mr. Potatohead as a state mascot of sorts? And/or: Would you prefer Mr. Potatohead to Spuddy Buddy as a mascot?