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An anthropomorphic Pop-Tart called Strawberry is closing out 2023 with a bang, winning the hearts and tantalizing the taste buds of people across the internet.
Strawberry's life was short but sweet. Giant Pop-Tart spent this year's Pop-Tarts Bowl game in Orlando on Thursday running around referees. Almost licked by a football player and serving people Pop-Tarts – all with a smile. And the mascot's intense energy and enthusiasm for being eaten have made it a topic of conversation online, attracting viewers who don't normally watch college football or eat heavily processed toaster pastries.
Who is Strawberry, the viral Pop-Tarts Bowl mascot?
Strawberry, a Pop-Tart mascot with big eyes and a huge grin on his face, found fame on a giant toaster set up on the field at Camping World Stadium in Orlando. This year, the Kansas State Wildcats football team won the game 28-19 against the North Carolina State Wolfpack and secured sole dining rights to enjoy strawberries. The mascot's costume isn't actually edible, but an edible pastry version of the strawberry with a winking face popped out of the toaster for the winners to enjoy.
At the end of the game, Strawberry returned to the same toaster, this time holding a sign that read, “Dreams really do come true.” While Strawberry pointed downward, the giant Pop-Tart was lowered into the toaster, happily meeting its fate.
“We will always love you, Strawberry,” the game announcer said. “I can’t wait to eat you.”
Within moments, the mascot was roasted, picked into handfuls and eaten by the Pop Tarts Bowl champions and their family members as purple and white confetti rained down. All that remained on the serving tray was an ominous eyeball.
“For 60 years, Pop-Tarts has challenged convention and brought crazy good to everything we do. It's in our DNA. “So why should we approach college football differently?” Heidi Ray, senior director of brand marketing at Pop-Tarts, said in a statement. “When we started thinking about game day rituals, the mascot was obviously a big moment that we wanted to reinvent and bring to life in a way that only Pop-Tarts can and in a way that our fans have come to expect.”
How did people react to the mascot?
Rodger Sherman, a 33-year-old New York resident, said he hadn't eaten Pop-Tarts in a long time before attending the game, his 57th stop on his four-month college football road trip. But on Friday afternoon, as Sherman drove to his next game, Pop-Tarts took center stage. After his awkward and pleasant encounter with the viral mascot just after halftime, he decided to eat a strawberry-flavored Pop-Tart.
“The mascot was very, very excited to create slightly disturbing, uncomfortable and strange interactions with people,” Sherman said.
“I asked if it was offensive to eat a Pop-Tart in front of the door @PopTartsBowl The mascot and his handler shouted “IT'S YOUR DREAM” and then the mascot took a Pop-Tart out of my hand and began force-feeding it to me while making soft grunting noises,” he posted on X, formerly Twitter.
In the picture Sherman posted, which now has more than 42,000 likes, Strawberry looks happy as ever while shoving a piece of blueberry Pop Tart into Sherman's mouth with one brown-gloved hand. Sherman said he wasn't sure if the grunting he heard was intentional, but it was definitely audible.
I asked if it was offensive to eat a Pop-Tart outside the door @PopTartsBowl Mascot and then his handler yelled “IT YOUR DREAM” and then Mascot took a Pop-Tart out of my hand and started force feeding it to me while making soft grunting noises pic.twitter.com/PaCDY6mzu3
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) December 29, 2023
Online, sports and Strawberry fans alike were fascinated by how lucky Strawberry was to be sacrificed.
The Stanford Tree, the Stanford Band mascot, paid homage to X: “Glory to my dear friend and mentor, the @PopTartsBowl Mascot,” wrote the Stanford Tree. “I find comfort in knowing that – by being eaten – you have achieved your most precious goal. This loss is bitter and sweet, sugary and sour. Just like you Leviticus 26:29”
“Not the hero we deserved, but the hero we needed,” one user commented.
Others said they were “proud to be an American” after seeing Strawberry make the ultimate sacrifice.
“We have always sacrificed everything in the name of flavor, so it only felt right to do the same for our mascot,” Ray said. “Our mascot, like our iconic toaster pastry, was born to bring joy to fans. Just like the sign Frosted Strawberry held as it was lowered into our giant toaster, his dreams were made of it.”
What other famous mascots does Strawberry remind us of?
For many people on social media, “Strawberry the Pop-Tart” was reminiscent of other popular mascot memes online.
Some mentioned Left-Shark stealing the show when Katy Perry sang “Teenage Dream” at the Super Bowl halftime show in 2015.
“It changed my life – I didn't become a millionaire, but I lived one of the biggest dreams a dancer could imagine,” wrote Bryan Gaw, the professional dancer responsible for Left-Shark's smooth moves, in 2018.
Gritty, the orange, googly-eyed mascot of the Philadelphia Flyers National Hockey League team, has a large fan base and sometimes appears off the rink.
And food-themed mascots are nothing new in football. Florida Citrus Sports, which operates the Pop-Tarts Bowl, also runs the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl at the same stadium. Prince Cheddward and Ched-Z were the Cheez-It Bowl mascots.
“The Cheez-It Citrus Bowl has an incredible and storied history of making college football fans and players feel at their sassiest with its absurd antics,” Ray said. She said the next bowl would feature a “Cheez-It Flexin' area” with a hair salon and spa on the field.
At Duke's Mayo Bowl, Tubby serves as the mascot, and each year a representative of the game's winning team is doused with the sticky white condiment.
What is the Pop Tarts Bowl?
The Pop-Tarts Bowl, originally called the Blockbuster Bowl, is an annual college football bowl game that has been held in Florida since 1990, according to the Pop-Tarts Bowl website. Originally held in Miami, it is now held at Camping World Stadium in Orlando.