The First Edible Mascot (case study) - Pop Tarts, Kellanova | Clapboard Ad Archive
Pop-Tarts and Kellanova partnered with Weber Shandwick in 2024 to launch The First Edible Mascot campaign, a groundbreaking activation that redefined the brand’s role from a nostalgic breakfast staple to a dominant force in the broader snacking landscape by embedding itself in the culturally charged world of college football through the inaugural Pop-Tarts Bowl. The campaign’s centerpiece was an unprecedented experiential stunt: a mascot crafted entirely from Pop-Tarts, designed to be both a vibrant emblem of team spirit and a literal, edible symbol of the brand’s irreverent personality and commitment to flavor after sixty years. This bold move transformed the mascot from a static figure into a dynamic, consumable spectacle that captivated fans and social audiences alike, driving massive engagement through memes, videos, GIFs, and social responses that flooded the digital ecosystem. By situating Pop-Tarts at the heart of a live sporting event and leveraging the emotional intensity of college football fandom, the campaign expanded the brand’s narrative beyond morning routines into social snacking occasions that resonate throughout the day. The campaign’s impact was staggering, generating over 4 billion impressions and sparking a sevenfold increase in brand searches on game day compared to the annual average, marking Pop-Tarts’ most significant single-day spike in nearly a decade. It also outperformed the combined brand mentions of ten other non-Kellanova-sponsored bowl games by fifteen times while accruing $1 million in valuable first-party data, demonstrating a seamless blend of cultural relevance and data-driven marketing efficacy. What Clapboard’s taxonomy identifies as FORMAT#9—Symbolize the Benefit, the campaign used the exaggerated visual of the edible mascot to embody Pop-Tarts’ “Crazy Good” flavor and playful spirit, turning a traditional sports symbol into an innovative metaphor that dramatized the product’s taste appeal and versatility. The New York Times recognized the campaign’s cultural dominance by declaring the Pop-Tarts Bowl the event that “won the internet,” a testament to the campaign’s viral reach and resonance. The campaign’s creative audacity and strategic precision earned it top industry honors including the 2024 Clio Awards Grand Prize, the Cannes Lions Brand Experience & Activation Grand Prix, and a Gold Idea at The ANDY Awards, underscoring its status as a seminal moment in food and experiential marketing. Clapboard rates this campaign 88/100 in its global creative archive. This campaign matters because it demonstrates how food brands can transcend product categories and cultural moments by transforming symbolic brand elements into participatory, multisensory experiences that ignite fan passion and digital virality simultaneously.
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