The Pop-Tarts mascots are about to die again—from trying too hard

The beloved toaster pastries are sponsoring another college football bowl, but with six mascots taking the field, the brand risks burning what’s been a killer strategy.

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. 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.