How did N.B.'s Big Potato end up in a CarMax commercial?

No, your eyes don't deceive you. A shot of Harvey's Big Potato in Maugerville can be seen in a recent CarMax commercial.

CarMax is a U.S.-based used car retailer, and their "Stickers" commercial tells a story about people's relationships to  the bumper stickers on their cars.

Harvey's Big Potato makes its appearance at the 12-second mark, as a shot of a little boy filming out the car window in the backseat cuts to a drive by shot of the Maugerville farmstand.

Michael Clowater directed the commercial for CarMax, and he said the story of how the potato ended up making the final cut is more one of happenstance than planning.

"It's probably not as fantastical a story as you might think," he said.

Clowater is from Fredericton and now lives in Toronto. His parents still own a cottage on Yoho Lake in New Brunswick and it was during a visit home when he heard from CarMax's ad agency that he got the job.

He and his son hopped in the car and drove around filming references for roadside attractions, something the agency had already decided it wanted to include in the commercial.

Potato beats artichoke

When Clowater travelled to Los Angeles to film the commercial, the original plan was to go out to a giant artichoke in California to film the roadside attraction element.

"But it was like, an hour and a half outside of L.A. and logistically it just became a thing where it wasn't really worth it to go there," Clowater said.

But Clowater had the video of the Big Potato on his cellphone, so while editing they stuck the shot in as a placeholder.

"We were never intending on using it in the edit, but it just kind of worked really well with the rhythm and the cadence of the commercial," he said.

Clowater was also looking for stock footage of roadside attractions to include but couldn't find something to fit the rhythm and music of the rest of the commercial.

We were never intending on using it in the edit but it just kind of worked really well.- Michael Clowater, commercial director

"You can have the best shot of something in the world and it just doesn't fit in. And then you can have like the worst quality footage of something else and it just clicks and it works."

Clowater said a shot of the Oromocto bridge almost made it in the commercial as well but was cut at the last minute.

When they decided to use the shot of the Big Potato, they called the current owner to get permission.

"He's such a low key guy. I thought he'd be kind of excited but he was like, 'yeah.'"

Clowater actually didn't think people in Fredericton would see the commercial but is excited the Easter egg has been noticed.

"Most people in America, when they watch it they're going to think that is in America somewhere."