In the college football world these days, it doesn’t really even matter who plays in the postseason bowl games, which will become even more evident as the playoff format is set to expand. As you might expect, the proliferation of college football bowl games – often featuring teams with losing records at this point – comes down solely to how much money the NCAA can make through bowl sponsorships.
This has never been more evident than what happened in the 2023 Pop-Tarts Bowl, which featured a live Pop-Tarts mascot that made a tremendously grand entrance, danced, and partied its way through the game that featured Kansas State taking on the NC State Wolfpack.
The Wildcats would go on to defeat the 19th-ranked Wolfpack 28-19, but that hardly matters, except for one small detail: The Kansas State team was awarded the opportunity to devour the Pop-Tarts mascot, which couldn’t have been happier to meet its own demise on the field that same night it was introduced to the world.
In the absurd spirit of bowl season, announcers are able to get weird with the whole thing. In the case of the Pop-Tarts Bowl, the viewing audience – which had just fallen in love with the gyrating and referee-harassing giant Pop-Tart – would quickly learn the fate of the mascot.
“After the game he will be devoured. He will die, and he will be his own last meal,” was what we all heard, and it was hard to deny the Christlike imagery that suddenly seemed so pervasive. Was this in fact the body of Christ, sacrificing itself to absolve us of our sins once again?
If you’re Kellanova, the parent company of Pop-Tarts, this bowl sponsorship went about as wonderfully as you could ever imagine. Social media had a field day with the sacrificial Pop-Tart mascot, proving there’s no form of modern advertising better than a campaign that spreads organically and with great fervor. Our delicious mascot found itself the source of numerous memes and videos, each one more delightful than the last. Want to see the Pop-Tart descend into the toaster to the ending theme of Terminator 2? Of course you do: Done. Like all great characters in American culture, the Pop-Tart has seemingly become instantly problematic, with evidence even cropping up of its participation in the January 6th riots in Washington, D.C.
Sure, we’re talking about a major corporation shoving an unhealthy, ultra-processed product in our face during a game led by one of the most corrupt organizations in the world (the NCAA), but why can’t we all have a little fun with it?
There is no amount of Pop-Tart mascot content I won’t like or share, and I guess that’s the point of it all. And rest assured, the Pop-Tarts Bowl has already announced its impending return in 2024.
