Pop-Tart Bowl mania: How Weber Shandwick built on success of wacky campaign

If you spent any time on social media last year, you may remember the buzz surrounding the inaugural Pop-Tarts Bowl.

After Kansas State’s win over North Carolina State, a Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tart mascot “sacrificed” itself by climbing into a giant toaster, transforming into an edible cake that the winning team devoured in a bizarre, almost cannibalistic scene.

The stunt went viral and earned Weber Shandwick and Pop-Tarts a Cannes Lions Grand Prix and generated more than 21 million extra sales of toaster pastries in the eight weeks following the game, a brand spokesperson told the Sports Business Journal.

The 2024 Pop-Tarts Bowl kicked off with a tribute to last year’s fallen mascot before a half-eaten, resurrected Frosted Strawberry mascot appeared high above the stadium walls to Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus.”

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A post shared by Pop-Tarts Bowl (@poptartsbowl)

“Once I heard the crowd roaring for our resurrected Strawberry Mascot, I knew we did it,” said Jenny Lindquist, senior director of full-funnel marketing for Pop-Tarts at Kellanova.

Jeffrey Spivock, Weber Shandwick’s EVP of integrated media strategy, said the yearlong planning process was a labor of love.

“It all starts with a clear strategy: stay true to our brand DNA,” he added.

Evaluating and building on success

Prep for the 2024 Pop-Tarts Bowl began hours after K-State players finished consuming the last piece of Pop-Tart cake.

The strategy for year two was simple: keep the mascot antics, over-the-top celebrations and stellar concessions – but elevate it.

Central to that work was listening to the fans. Weber Shandwick used a bespoke program called Reach + Heat. While reach is important, what matters more is how much people care, Spivock said. The system tracks everything from awareness, sentiment and purchase intent to its impact beyond college football and into pop culture.

Kellanova and Pop-Tarts also worked with Nielsen Sports to conduct a holistic, independent evaluation of the sponsorship. This included both tangible and intangible assessments of how the partnership benefited the Pop-Tarts brand.

“For us, it’s not about plastering the brand logo everywhere,” Lindquist said. “It’s about creating an immersive experience that resonates with people on a deeper level.”

Listening to the fans became a central theme in planning the 2024 event, Spivock said. Fan feedback shaped everything, from social media content to in-game activations. Many fans were disappointed that the trophy wasn’t a toaster, so this year, it was.

They also made sure “all moments were meme-worthy,” Spivock said.

“We purposely built a strategy that was elastic and would allow us to constantly reinvent” the experience for fans, he added.

A year-round campaign

Spivock said the response to the inaugural campaign was such a hit that they wanted to continue the energy year round

“That gave us confidence that there was an appetite for more, and we knew that’s what we needed to feed,” he said. “So, we didn’t focus on ‘living up to expectations,’ but on giving fans more to play with, more chances to get involved, more chances to live the brand.”

A key improvement for the 2024 game was spacing out elements to create more touchpoints and keep it top of mind longer. They wanted to focus on sports fans but also find ways to “break through the culture,” as Spivock put it.

A Pop-Tarts mascot Halloween costume sold out in stores. The team also took mascots to the Los Angeles red-carpet premiere of Jerry Seinfeld’s “Unfrosted” movie, which told Pop-Tarts’ origin story. There was also a series of zany 15-second commercials produced by Le Truc, an integrated agency partner.

The creative team “had a million ideas we wanted to execute, and some you may even see in the future,” Spivock said.

Pop-Tarts increased their number of mascots at the game to three. They involved fans in the weeks leading up to the action by letting them try to guess the identity of a mystery flavor mascot before revealing the answer on the brand’s social media channels.

“Build something that lets fans at home get involved,” Spivock said.

The Pop-Tarts team also wanted to get the teams, especially the winners, more involved. As part of the postgame ceremonies, the MVP from the victorious squad got to choose which of three flavors of mascots to sacrifice as a tasty spoil to the victors.

Mouth Heaven gained another angel! 💙 #PopTartsBowl pic.twitter.com/0hkfozfgjU

— Pop-Tarts Bowl (@PopTartsBowl) December 29, 2024

But Spivock emphasized the importance of avoiding the temptation of trying to include everything. His suggestion: edit yourself.

“Recognize when it’s time to push on a ‘no,’” Spivock said.

The results

It’s too early to gauge the full success of the 2024 Pop-Tarts Bowl, which took place Dec. 28. However, the game attracted 6.8 million viewers, the most in the last four seasons, and outdrew most minor bowl games, which typically draw around 4 million viewers.

.@PopTartsBowl Recap

🌪️🚨🌪️ pic.twitter.com/Je4qpMnntO

— Iowa State Football (@CycloneFB) January 3, 2025

On game day, the social teams focused on building off of fan reactions to both the on-field happenings and the chatter online. The primary goal was to highlight the “crazy” in the “Crazy Good” tagline, Spivock said. Content highlighted everything from the sprinkles on the sidelines to getting a reporter to don a Pop-Tart costume on the field.

Kellanova generated eight times more social conversation than all other non-Kellanova brands combined, according to Talkwalker, a consumer intelligence platform. The company reported that its bowl team created the brand’s biggest organic TikTok post to date. As of Monday evening, it had more than 32.8 million views, nearly 5,200 likes, more than 3,800 bookmarks and over 660 comments. Kellanova also saw its largest single-day increase in TikTok followers.

“I don’t care who is playing… I’m going to next year’s Pop Tarts Bowl!” one user commented on a Pop-Tarts IG post.

Lindquist admitted that the day was a little crazy at times. But her focus was to have fun and enjoy the moment. “We all worked so hard to be prepared, so for me, it was about slowing down, watching fans’ reactions and taking it all in.”

But she did offer some advice for PR pros: “When you lead with creativity, stay rooted in purpose and deliver experiences with a wink and a smile, you invite fans to engage with your brand in ways that feel both unexpected and unforgettable.”

The Pop-Tarts Bowl’s rest didn’t last long. Preparations for the next game began on Dec. 29.

“We could tell you what’s next, but that would ruin all the fun,” Spivock said.

Casey Weldon is a reporter for PR Daily. Follow him on LinkedIn.