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Jon Hamm Shouts Out The Ontario Origin Of Yukon Gold Potatoes In New Ad

He knows his potatoes.
Jon Hamm attends the L.A. premiere of Netflix's "Between Two Ferns: The Movie" on Sept. 16, 2019.
David Livingston via Getty Images
Jon Hamm attends the L.A. premiere of Netflix's "Between Two Ferns: The Movie" on Sept. 16, 2019.

“Mad Men” star Jon Hamm flexed his Canadian knowledge in a new commercial for food delivery service SkipTheDishes.

In the ad, the actor is shown eating Yukon Gold fries, and asks his assistant to order more.

“Yukon’s greatest creation,” the other character quips.

“Everyone knows these were invented in Guelph,” Hamm replies.

The Ontario Agricultural College at the University of Guelph thanked SkipTheDishes and the actor for mentioning the origins of the spuds in the ad.

The potatoes were developed at the school in 1966 by Gary Johnston. The potatoes were the first in Canada to be marketed with a name instead of just a colour description. They were originally named after the Yukon River, because Johnston’s other potato varieties were also named after waterways (Huron and Rideau), but a colleague suggested adding “gold” because of the tater’s bright hue, according to Maclean’s.

SkipTheDishes, which is headquartered in Winnipeg, made another hyper-Canadian advertisement featuring the actor, this time name-dropping Yellowknife, Moose Jaw, Sask. and Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.

In the second commercial, the actor tells his assistant he’s ordering food to celebrate officially becoming Canadian, but is told his citizenship application has been denied.

“What? But I already bought a moose jaw, and a yellow knife! And a Sault Ste. Marie, whatever that is!” the actor says.

His assistant suggests he create a new country called “New Canada” instead, but Hamm says he’s a “real Canadian.”

Moose Jaw’s mayor, Fraser Tolmie, made a video inviting Hamm to visit “New Canada” and saying that if he were the prime minister of “New Canada” he would have him swear allegiance to Mac the Moose, a giant statue which was the subject of a small feud between Canada and Norway earlier this year.

He also talks about the things “New Canada” would do differently, like turning Thursdays into Fridays and making maple syrup a beverage.

He ends by saying he’ll ask the people of “New Canada” to sign a petition to make Hamm a citizen, and if they get 1,000 signatures, he’ll “do the most Canadian thing ever” and walk up to the actor and say “I’m sorry.”

Yes, the petition exists. It was almost a third of the way to its goal at the time of publishing.

Hopefully you can join “New Canada” soon, Jon Hamm. If not, you can always count on having maple syrup and peameal bacon to keep you company.

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