Issue #4: Pop-Tarts Pops Off

Sometimes, wild ideas really do pay off.

I’ve been home for the holidays for a few weeks, and I had originally planned to take last Thursday off of Brand Baby to spend some time with my family and attempt to ski in these (truly abhorrent) mountain west conditions. But after a few runs on literal grass, I gave up and came home to see this headline everywhere:

So I had to write something about this, even if it’s a little off-schedule (don’t fret, regular Thursday programming will be returning this week).

Let’s back up. If you’re neither on Twitter nor a fan of football, then here’s the TLDR: on Friday, the Pop-Tarts Bowl took place in Orlando, Florida, where Kansas State and NC State faced off. Pop-Tarts brought a Pop-Tart mascot to the game, which, at the end of the game, was lowered into a giant toaster and popped out for the winning team to consume (Kansas State, if you’re remotely interested). And the internet went crazy for it.

There’s something so stunty, so ridiculous about this whole thing that of course Twitter ate it up. Social chatter about Pop-Tarts was rampant on Friday, proving that sometimes, an old-fashioned outlandish live stunt has the power to garner a ton of media attention. I mean, just think of the person in the Pop-Tarts marketing department who was like… what if we made an edible Pop-Tart mascot that will descend into a toaster and pop out of the bottom for the winning team to eat? The rest of the team probably laughed at first, then asked some questions, had a whole lot of conversations about budget and legal things (what I want to know is how this was green-lit given the potential sanitary concerns?!), and finally shrugged and said, ‘Let’s give it a shot.’ And now I bet they’re really glad they did. It’s just a nice reminder that even the most out-of-the-blue ideas have the power to turn into great things, and it’s always worth it to just put it out there.

We also know that mascots can be successful. I don’t even know if Pop-Tarts had a mascot before this stunt (please reply and let me know if you’ve seen it previously!). Perhaps they didn’t and they just created one for their presence in the sports world, thus integrating them in sports customs. And now? I don’t think it’s going anywhere. In fact, they should give the mascot a name, put it in commercials, and sell plush versions of it! Make the most of this win, Pop-Tarts.

Outside of sports, we see other companies with successful mascots too. Think of the Michelin Man, or the Geico Gecko. And with Pop-Tarts, as a brand that sells a playful, delicious product primarily marketed to kids, a mascot is particularly beneficial as a memorable, clear symbol of the brand. I actually think mascots (when done right!) are really fun ways to differentiate and have some fun. I kind of feel like influencers and brand personalities (celebrities, leadership, etc.) have become the new mascots, but there’s nothing wrong with a funny mascot to get the people going in a way that influencers just can’t.

I’m not the biggest football spectator out there, but I haven’t seen a sponsor integrate their brand so well into a game… ever. Pop-Tarts had a cooler full of actual Pop-Tarts awaiting the winning team for them to pour over their coach, followed by the traditional Gatorade-drenching. They even consulted on the design of the trophy, which featured slots on the top of a football to hold two real Pop-Tarts.

Overall, the stunt earned an immense amount of social and press coverage, with social conversation revolving around Pop-Tarts for much of the latter part of the week. I hope this inspires other brands to take some risks and have some fun with otherwise standardized or cookie-cutter sponsorships (sports or otherwise). Let me know what you think in the Substack post comments: do you want more risky activations from brands? What do you think about brand mascots or characters?

That’s all for this week! Happy new year to all and see you on Thursday.