Pop Tarts (History, FAQ, Pictures & Commercials)

Pop Tarts are toaster pastries that are eaten as breakfast food or as a snack. Rectangular in shape, fairly thick, and contain filling inside of them. Many varieties exist, many of them containing a coating of hard frosting on one side of the Pop Tart. First made in the year 1964, with the frosted variety that is very now common being first released the year 1967. The snack is generally heated up, generally in the toaster, so that the filling inside can get warm, however, the pastry itself is already pre-cooked and packaged before it reaches the consumer.

History And Information

Pop Tarts is a brand of toaster pastries that the Kellogg Company introduced in 1964. Pop Tarts have a sugary filling sealed inside two layers of thin, rectangular pastry crust. Made by Kellogg’s, most varieties of Pop Tarts are frosted with a hard form of icing of various flavors, such as cinnamon or cherry. They are sold pre-cooked but designed to be warmed inside a toaster or microwave oven. They are usually sold in pairs inside mylar packages that do not require refrigeration. 

They were originally sold in four flavors — apple currant, strawberry, blueberry and brown sugar cinnamon. Now available in dozens of flavors, with seasonal flavors appearing for a short time. Among the most popular flavors are hot fudge sundae, s’mores, raspberry and peanut butter.

Launched after Post introduced a similar product, Country Squares, in 1963. But it lacked the marketing initiative and Kellogg beat them to it with Pop Tarts, which dominated the toaster pastry category and became Kellogg’s most popular brand. Kellogg originally named its new product Fruit Scones but changed it to Pop Tarts as a play on Andy Warhol’s Pop Art movement of the time.

Originally unfrosted, a frosted version were released in 1967 and became the most popular form of the pastry, with frosted strawberry and brown sugar cinnamon the leaders, according to Kellogg’s. A number of related products were introduced, starting with Pastry Swirls in the mid-1990s and Snack-Six in 2002. Go-Tarts and Pop Tarts Splitz were introduced in 2006 and 2007. All four products were discontinued after brief runs. Ice Cream Shoppe flavors, that were introduced in 2005, were also discontinued in 2012.

In 1994, Kellogg’s introduced Pop Tarts Cereal and took it off the market after a year. But it announced the return of Frosted Strawberry and Frosted Brown Sugar Cinnamon Cereals in early 2019. Pop Tarts also released two new flavors in 2019 that are twists on popular desserts — Frosted Chocolate Cupcake and Frosted Confetti Cupcake.

Advertising has progressed over the years, from the animated TV spots featuring Milton the toaster, its original mascot, to a variety of social media applications, including a mobile campaign for its Crazy Good Summer campaign in 2014 that promoted the event with new music to a youth audience.

Then there is event marketing, like the stunt drop at The University of New Hampshire to promote the new Gone Nutty flavor when a box of the pastries was dropped on campus one night and students discovered it the next morning, which generated an immense social response.

Kellogg’s recalled the derivation of the name when it brought in post-Pop artist Burtin Morris to design five special edition boxes in 2009. “Not only are Pop Tarts an icon of Pop culture, the fun flavors, colorful sprinkles, frosting and fillings make them a little piece of edible art,” Morris said.

Pop Tarts are a nostalgic breakfast pastry that some view as a convenient grab-and-go meal. Due to their frosted nature, others view them as a type of snack or dessert, even if it may be one intended for breakfast.

The Year Pop Tarts Was Invented

Pop Tarts was first invented in the year 1964. The 60s candy had no frosting at the time it was first released to the public.

Slogans

One slogan for was “Crazy Good”, a memorable saying that was part of an advertising campaign slogan.

The Company That Makes Pop Tarts

Pop Tarts is produced by Kellogg’s, an American multinational food manufacturing company that produces cereal and convenience foods. Kellogg’s also produced products such as Froot Loops, Cheez-It, and Pringles.

Logo

Flavors List

Here is a list of the different flavors:

• Strawberry
• Cherry
• Brown Sugar Cinnamon
• Wild Berry
• Blueberry flavored
• Raspberry flavored
• Cookies & Cream
• S’mores flavored
• Hot Fudge Sundae
• Strawberry Milkshake flavored
• Vanilla Milkshake flavored
• Chocolate Fudge flavored
• Chocolate Chip
• Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
• Ranch Dressing flavored
• Watermelon flavored
• Crush Orange
• Pretzel
• Crisp Apple flavored
• Cupcake
• Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients

Here are the ingredients for Pop-Tarts

• Wheat flour
• Sugar
• Dextrose
• Palm oil
• Glucose syrup
• Milk whey powder
• Fat reduced cocoa powder
• Humectant (glycerol)
• Invert sugar syrup
• Wheat starch
• Salt
• Raising agents (Sodium hydrogen carbonate, E450)
• Beef gelatin
• Dried egg white
• Starch
• Stabiliser (xanthan gum)
• Emulsifier (soy lecithin)
• Brown rice syrup
• Niacin
• Iron
• Thiamin
• Riboflavin
• Folic acid

Nutrition

Serving Size:	1 pastry (52g)	% Daily Value*
Amount Per Serving
Calories from Fat	45
Calories	200
Total Fat	5g	8%
Saturated Fat	1.5g	8%
Trans Fat	0g
Cholesterol	0mg	0%
Sodium	170mg	7%
Total Carbohydrates	38g	13%
Dietary Fiber	0.5g	2%
Sugars	16g
Protein	2g
Vitamin A		0%
Vitamin C		0%
Calcium		0%
Iron		4%

• Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Pictures

Commercials

FAQ