• by Tanya Gazdik , 5 hours ago

The Pop-Tarts mascots are gearing up for the inevitable. Several will be sacrificial lambs at their namesake college football game. 

“In 2023, Pop-Tarts changed the world of brand mascots forever when it sacrificed the life of a Strawberry Pop-Tart and fed its remains to the Kansas State football team as a reward for winning the Pop-Tarts Bowl game,” according to Fast Company. “The weirdly macabre stunt got 4 billion media impressions, and in the eight weeks following the game, parent company Kellanova sold 21 million more Pop-Tarts than in the eight weeks before the game.”

The Pop-Tarts Bowl has existed under other names since 1990. It's been known as the Sunshine Classic, Citrus Bowl and Florida Bowl, among other names, over the years.

“But the game gained massive popularity in 2023, when it was announced that Pop-Tarts would sponsor it,” according to Yahoo Sports. “In celebration of that news, the brand decided to introduce the world to the ‘first-ever edible mascot,’ a strawberry Pop-Tart that desired to be eaten. After the game was over, the mascot was lowered into a giant toaster. Players then consumed a fake replica of the mascot on the field. The event — and the images it created — was beautiful and horrific.”

Last year, the brand brought three flavors to the Pop-Tarts Bowl, letting the winning team’s MVP choose which one was toasted and eaten (Iowa State’s quarterback, Rocco Becht, picked Frosted Cinnamon Roll).

This year, the bowl is coming back and raising the stakes by upping the number of "edible mascots" and level of fan involvement, according to a news release. While three flavors – Frosted Wild Berry, Frosted Hot Fudge Sundae, and Frosted Cinnamon Roll – competed last year for the chance to be eaten by the winning team, this year the fans will be the ones deciding the pastries' fates.

Six edible Pop-Tarts mascots—three on Team Sprinkles and three on Team Swirls—will be up for mass consumption, with fans voting ahead of time on which team should be sacrificed.

“While the college football season culminates with a bowl game for some teams who have not advanced to the playoffs, some bowls have different sponsors attached to it that shape the event's happenings outside of the game,” according to USA Today. “Those events have led to wacky moments, like a couple getting married during a commercial timeout of the Citrus Cheez-It Bowl and the ceremony being officiated by the Cheez-It mascot, Ched-Z.”

Sports Illustrated calls the Pop-Tarts Bowl "the strangest bowl game on the docket.”

But strange isn’t necessarily bad if it means thousands of eyeballs on your brand.