Giant Edible Pop Tart Mascot Gets Touching Tribute At Big 12 Media Days

Last December, college football fans were witnesses to the inaugural Pop-Tarts Bowl, a delicious, maddening bowl game face-off featuring Kansas State and NC State.

K-State won the Pop-Tarts Bowl title, but the real winners were the folks at Big Pop-Tart — i.e., the marketing team — that gave us an all-time bowl game mascot: the anthropomorphic, edible Pop-Tart.

The Big 12 media sessions kicking off in Las Vegas on Tuesday included an incredible callback to the uber-entertaining Pop-Tarts Bowl.

College football reporter Brett McMurphy shared a tribute passed out at the media sessions, featuring a eulogy to the departed Pop-Tarts Bowl mascot, the giant edible Pop-Tart. 

The Pop-Tarts Bowl offered the winning team a prize unlike another: an opportunity to eat the mascot. The Note of Remembrance shared by McMurphy brought college football fans back to December 2023 when the giant Pop-Tart mascot was eaten alive in the spirit of competition.

The note read, "Please join us in taking a moment to celebrate the life of edible mascot Frosted Strawberry. May they be remembered for their love of life, their delicious jammy filling and their dreams of being eaten coming true. Though they now rest in crumbs, their life's work will continue this year."

A giant Pop-Tarts toaster awaited the mascot as Kansas State beat the Wolfpack, 28-19. 

Standing on a slot, the giant Pop-Tart slowly descended to its demise, holding a "Dreams Really Do Come True" sign as it dipped into the fiery toaster.

The Pop-Tart emerged from the other side as a massive treat for the Wildcats players to consume. Wildcats clawed away at the once-living Pop-Tart, and bits of the Pop-Tart humanoid were left in the aftermath, showing the horrific send-off to a beloved mascot. 

The Pop-Tarts Bowl will be back on Saturday, December 28, 2024. Get your bib ready.

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