College football’s unhinged Pop-Tarts Bowl inspired memes, religious imagery, and so much more

The 2024 Pop-Tarts Bowl featured stunning football: No. 18 ranked Iowa St. knocked off No. 13 Miami in a high-scoring, 42-41 victory. However, when it came to the Pop-Tarts Bowl, hardly anyone was talking about the actual football.

That’s because it is one of the most wonderfully unhinged events you’ll ever see. Last year, the game generated headlines after it “sacrificed” its strawberry mascot as a toasted trophy for the winning team. In 2024, the Pop-Tarts Bowl ramped things up. They had a competition among Pop Tart mascots to be sacrificed, they resurrected last year’s pastry, they ripped packaging off, and all-in-all just got super weird.

Only at this weird college football game could you see a humanoid Pop-Tart being lowered to its “death” with a sign reading “Follow Your Dreams.” Naturally, the internet loved it all.

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This BlueSky post from Anne T. Donahue really summed the festivities — which all centered around a Pop Tart going to “mouth heaven” — by basically calling it a Mad Men fever dream.

The festivities truly were something else — I, for one, cannot wait for the 2025 Pop-Tarts Bowl.