At roughly 7 p.m. ET on Saturday, the eyes of faculty soccer might be centered on a pastry.
Last yr, the inaugural Pop-Tarts Bowl (previously the Cheez-It Bowl, the Camping World Bowl, and so forth) made waves — however not for its on-field motion. It was the postgame ceremonies that drew everybody’s consideration.
After the Kansas State Wildcats have been topped the bowl’s victors, the standard postgame traditions ensued. Wildcats coach Chris Klieman acquired a Gatorade tub. Players headed to midfield, the place they donned Pop-Tarts Bowl champions T-shirts. Quarterback Avery Johnson was named the sport’s Most Valuable Player. A trophy was hoisted.
Then an outsized frosted strawberry Pop-Tart then climbed atop an outsized toaster and descended to its toasted doom. Seconds later, certain sufficient, an edible, outsized Pop-Tart emerged from the toaster’s backside slot. Johnson and Klieman loved bites. Satisfied with what they noticed, the bowl’s planners went to work on making the subsequent yr’s version much more over-the-top.
Sounds outlandish? There’s video proof to match the story.
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Edible Pop-Tart served to bowl winner Kansas State
Kansas State’s head coach and quarterback get pleasure from an enormous Pop-Tart after successful the inaugural Pop-Tarts Bowl.
In a world the place school soccer’s bowls constantly jostle for attention in an ever-changing sport, outlandishness works.
When the Pop-Tarts Bowl began charting a course for its first recreation underneath the brand new title sponsor, a willingness to interrupt the mould and push boundaries shortly emerged. The objective could be to seek out methods to be unconventional whereas nonetheless honoring a few of school soccer’s basic rituals.
“When we stepped into final yr, the technique was actually ‘How will we sort out conventional school soccer rituals and switch them on their heads?'” Pop-Tarts senior director of name advertising and marketing Heidi Ray instructed ESPN. “It’s true to the DNA of the [Pop-Tarts] model that we bust conference.”
The recreation’s now-famous Pop-Tart mascot is maybe the perfect instance of blending one thing that may very well be distinct to the bowl with basic school soccer custom. Scores of universities have beloved mascots to assist pump followers up on recreation day — why not give the sport a mascot as nicely? Though a far cry from a few of school soccer’s extra intimidating costumes, the frosted strawberry Pop-Tart proved a success, its reputation exceeding what the sport’s organizers had even imagined.
“We have been enthusiastic about [the mascot],” Ray mentioned. “We did not anticipate that the world would lose its thoughts the best way it did when it was launched after which in the end when it was sacrificed.”
Not content material to only benefit from the success of final season’s mascot, Pop-Tarts seemed to construct on what had already labored heading into 2024. Frosted strawberry (and its subsequent cinematic toasting) was a smash hit. Ray and the bowl’s response?
“Let’s triple the enjoyable and convey three.”
Enter this year’s trio of mascots, with the sport’s MVP incomes the glory of choosing which of the three flavors would be the one to be toasted.
The identical logic of constructing upon prior successes applies to the sport’s new trophy, which now doubles as a functional toaster. The inaugural Pop-Tarts Bowl trophy had a smooth silver soccer design, full with two slots on the prime to carry a pair of Pop-Tarts the best way a toaster would. It invited a pure query, nevertheless: Could it really toast the pastries?
That model of the trophy couldn’t. But when conferences for the subsequent recreation started, the query of methods to make the trophy operate was instantly raised.
“We have been actually excited and proud for folks to see [the trophy] … however the quick second query all people had was ‘Is it an actual toaster?'” Florida Citrus Sports chief advertising and marketing officer Matt Repchak instructed ESPN. “So once we began the planning for 2024, one of many first issues that we mentioned within the brainstorm assembly was ‘I feel all of us agree this must be a useful toaster.’
“There’s a giggle once you inform any person that you simply’re attempting to place a toaster inside a soccer on prime of a trophy. But then it in a short time was like ‘OK, that is semi-serious, let’s do that factor.'”
Social media technique has additionally proved to be pivotal within the Pop-Tarts Bowl’s continued institution within the postseason scene. Going hand in hand with the sport’s assorted distinctive options is a willingness to relentlessly promote these options in distinctive methods.
Soon after the sport’s useful toaster trophy was unveiled, the bowl’s X account was able to showcase the unlikely {hardware}, posting a parody trailer of Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” full with the tagline of #Poppenheimer.
“Now I’m grow to be Trophy, toaster of pastries.” #Poppenheimer #PopTartsBowl pic.twitter.com/oq4pbQfqGN
— Pop-Tarts Bowl (@PopTartsBowl) December 16, 2024
“We had good audio clips, good references … issues that really feel tied into what’s in popular culture,” Repchak mentioned. “You method your social media technique [like] that is one other platform for folks to have interaction with the sport.
“Last yr lots of people came upon Pop-Tarts was sponsoring a recreation once they noticed that trophy for the primary time … much more folks came upon that Pop-Tarts was concerned with school soccer once they couldn’t keep away from the memes on Instagram the day of the sport and the day after the sport.”
Needless to say, school soccer followers on-line have taken to what the Pop-Tarts Bowl is providing. The bowl recreation presently has 37.8K followers on X — and counting — and has the second-highest follower rely of any non-New Year’s Six Bowl recreation, surpassed solely by the pioneer of the mayo tub, the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. In reality, the Mayo Bowl, the Pop-Tarts Bowl and the Citrus Bowl — additionally operated by FCS Sports — are the one non-NY6 video games to boast over 30,000 followers on X.
Regardless of the end result on Saturday or the bowl’s follower rely, something feels potential for the Pop-Tarts Bowl going ahead. Whether it is additional growth of mascot ranks, new trophy features or another unseen innovation, it is arduous to rule something out as soon as bowl season subsequent December rolls round. Just take it from Repchak.
“We haven’t proven our full arms but.”
