Mr Tayto, the mascot of Tayto Crisps, Republic of Ireland, got under a few people’s skins when he became a General Election candidate in 2007 in Co Louth. His policies included re-naming the M50 as the M51 and making all the traffic lights green.
Despite being a bit of a blight on the other candidates, Mr Tayto gained quite a fan base. In 2008, A picture and video of him looking ‘lonely’ went viral and was followed by Lonely Hearts advert in a local paper, a wildly successful PR campaign for Tayto’s.
To complete his success as an Irish icon, in 2009 Mr Tayto published a best-selling autobiography The Man inside the Jacket. The man behind the man inside the jacket was Ray Coyle, potato farmer turned entrepreneur, who also founded Tayto Park and was behind Mr Tayto’s election campaign.
Museum of Crisps 