CHICAGO — After weeks of consumer speculation, Pop-Tarts, a Kellanova brand, has unveiled Frosted Cinnamon Roll as the mystery third flavor returning to this year’s Pop-Tarts Bowl, which will be held Dec. 28 at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Last year, Pop-Tarts signed a multi-year agreement with Florida Citrus Sports to become the title sponsor for the Pop-Tarts Bowl game. Since 2014, the bowl has matched the top selection from the ACC against the second selection from the Big 12.
Dressed as an Edible Mascot alongside Frosted Wild Berry and Frosted Hot Fudge Sundae, Frosted Cinnamon Roll will compete to be the pastry eaten by the winning team. To celebrate the occasion, consumers can also find the requested flavor returning to nationwide shelves over the weeks leading up to the event. Until then, Pop-Tarts has released a hyper-limited drop of the once-discontinued toaster pastry on the brand’s website.
“We’re always listening to our fans and are very happy to deliver one thing they’re truly hungry for: the return of Frosted Cinnamon Roll,” said Heidi Ray, senior director of marketing for Pop-Tarts. “We know Pop-Tarts fans love to debate our flavors and were blown away by the level of engagement and speculation over the last two weeks, including correct guesses for Frosted Cinnamon Roll.”
To engage consumers before the anticipated event, Pop-Tart has also released a content series available on the brand’s YouTube channel where all three mascots are filmed training for the competition.
“To everyone who has flooded our comments and customer service to bring back this fan-favorite flavor, we’re proud to say, in the words of Frosted Strawberry, ‘Dreams really do come true’,” Ray added.
While the Pop-Tarts Bowl MVP will ultimately choose the Edible Mascot, consumers are able to cast their vote prior to game time. For those who match the MVP’s final pick, their name will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win a memorialized piece of the winning Edible Mascot along with a year’s supply of Pop-Tarts toaster pastries.
The brand has also incorporated more consumer fanfare around this year’s event, releasing limited-time mascot packs in two flavors, Frosted Strawberry and Frosted Apple Turnover, in addition to in-stadium concessions on gameday such as Pop-Tarts PB&J Pretzels and Pop-Tarts Boston Creme and Strawberry Trifles.
Pop-Tarts will also be donating $50,000 to Extra Yard this season to support the teaching profession across four main areas: resources, recognition, recruitment and professional development.
