Students in advertising are whipping up creamy ice cream creations for a “camera ready” commercial project, but with a special ingredient; mashed potatoes.

“Instead of ice cream, we’re using mashed potatoes,” junior Alex Child said. “That way we can show the effects of making it look better.”

Advertising teacher Katie Young explained the basics of the project assigned to her students.

“Because ice cream melts so quickly, especially under hot photography lights, mashed potatoes are a common stand in for ice cream in photoshoots,” Young said. “A lot of the times if you see an advertisement for ice cream, you’re not actually looking at ice cream.”

The challenge for students is to make the mashed potatoes look as realistic as possible to appeal to a wide audience.

“Other than the molding and coloring of the potatoes, it’s really simple,” Child said. “We don’t want the ice cream to ‘melt,’ so we don’t the mashed potatoes to fall apart.”

It may seem like these students are playing with food, but Child understands how the project can be applied on a greater spectrum.

“By doing this, we’re able to understand how people advertise certain products that are able to be consumed,” Child said.

Advertising class covers the history of advertising, different kinds of media plans, social media, and consumer behavior, which is why people decide to buy what they do.

“A lot of it is consumer awareness of what you’re actually looking at when you’re being advertised to,” Young said. “Understand that what you see is always what you think you’re seeing.”