How Much Pop-Tarts Bowl Earned in Free Media Exposure With Edible Mascot

The toaster pastry brand is rolling in the cash for its parent brand, Kellanova.

The college football world quickly fell in love with the Pop-Tarts Bowl mascot Thursday, and then hours later mourned its death when it was devoured by Kansas State in a scrumptious postgame ceremony.

The mascot continued to make the rounds on the internet Friday, earning the toaster pastry brand a lucrative return on its investment in sponsoring the bowl game.

The Pop-Tarts Bowl generated $12.1 million in media exposure for its parent company, Kellanova, according to Apex Marketing Group. That includes generating brand value from social media, digital news, TV and radio exposure from the game.

Kellanova (formerly Kellogg’s) has sponsored the bowl game since 2020. It was known as the Cheez-It Bowl for three years before the company announced in May that Pop-Tarts, another Kellanova product, would be featured as the bowl’s name.

The Pop-Tarts Bowl’s popular mascot sparked a raft of free publicity for the game and its namesake brand :: Nathan Ray Seebeck/USA TODAY Sports

Apex Marketing told Front Office Sports that the switch from Cheez-It to Pop-Tarts bumped up the bowl game’s brand value more than 25%.

With this impressive return on investment, college football fans might expect to see more edible mascots patrolling the sidelines in future bowl games.