The Pop-Tarts Bowl serves as a good reminder to trade in evoking emotion and connection; sometimes it’s the simple story templates and archetypes that pop.

Drawing up the perfect play

When a marketing campaign generates this much buzz, it’s only a matter of time before someone brings out the cookie cutter.

However, the luster was already lacking when Cheez-It unveiled its non-edible mascot on New Year’s Day. While the same agency and marketing minds might be behind both (Pop-Tarts parent company Kellanova is a spinoff of Cheez-It maker Kellogg’s), the reality is that the bit is already old.

Strawberry’s ascendance at the Pop-Tarts Bowl was pure. Nobody saw it coming. It followed the marketing mantra of my former boss, Odwalla and Califia Farms founder Greg Steltenpohl: Show up when and where you’re never expected to be. That’s why he used to run print ads for orange juice in fishing magazines in the ’80s.

Incongruity and absurdity run through the heart of the Strawberry fanfare. The mascot’s twisted facial expression, the implicit (somewhat tongue-in-cheek) agreement that he was going to “die” at the end of the game. Its nihilistic tone played a major part in the stunt catching fire among audiences.

Flip the coin, and it’s the absence of that “Are they really doing this?!” factor that made Cheez-It’s copycat attempt fall a little flat.

A quick glance at the stats reveals that Pop-Tarts’ bowl shenanigans generated oodles of social currency; ESPN’s TikTok of Strawberry has racked up more than 4 million views, and Kellanova’s CMO confirmed it’s the single biggest earned-media campaign the brand has had.

Time to run the option

The bowl season may be over, but brand marketers are already on the clock to come up with next year’s Strawberry.

Let’s hope we all remember the most poignant lesson Strawberry taught us: It’s in the end that many things become meaningful. So let it end and don’t be a copycat.

Instead, let’s ask: Does our brand have a play within its unique personality that can follow the recipe of equal parts absurdity and simplicity? Where can we go where we’re not expected to be?