The "Frosted Strawberry" Pop-Tarts Bowl mascot is risen. (Pop-Tarts Bowl on X.) The “Frosted Strawberry” Pop-Tarts Bowl mascot is risen. (Pop-Tarts Bowl on X.)

There are a lot of bowl games with strange moments, but the Pop-Tarts Bowl sure seems to top most of them. That bowl in Orlando has only been under that name for two years now, but its inaugural edition last season saw wild social media conversation, especially around the post-game “sacrifice” of the “edible mascot.” So that’s a tough act to top. But for this year’s game Saturday, the bowl (this time featuring CFP No. 13 Miami and No. 18 Iowa State) went even further.

There, they unveiled an in memoriam banner to the Frosted Strawberry mascot eaten last year. They then followed that with an in-game tribute video (with a soundtrack of “See You Again,” the song by Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth, commissioned for Fast and Furious 7), complete with the current mascots mourning. And then, they set up its resurrection (to a combination of Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus” and The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony”).

That was definitely the strangest moment of the first half. And it, of course, got Art But Sportsed:

But it was far from the only odd moment here. The various mascots for this year also did an “unwrapping,” and combine drills:

This broadcast also saw ESPN on ABC sideline reporter/field analyst Cole Cubelic don his own Pop-Tarts costume:

And the TV broadcast booth of Tom Hart and Jordan Rodgers got time with the trophy, which incorporates an actual toaster:

The radio booth got their own Pop-Tarts:

And there were plenty of Pop-Tarts tie-ins for the non-broadcast media, too:

All in all, it made for quite the first-half broadcast. And we’ll see what they can do to top it in the second half. But last year’s version, at least, proved quite worthwhile for Pop-Tarts maker Kellanova (formerly Kellogg’s):

We’ll see if this bowl and its antics prove as lucrative.

[Pop-Tarts Bowl on X]

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.