Pop Tarts: No Fruit Necessary

Pop Tarts are a legendary breakfast treat in the United States. They're fruit-filled toaster pastries with very little fruit. But who cares right? It's all about that toasty goodness. See omnystudio.com/listener https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:04Josh Clark?

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• 1:40Speaker 00

  Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a production of iHeartRadio.

• 1:50Josh Clark?

  Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh and there's Chuck. Jerry's here, too, talking about her grandmother and what she did with Pop Tarts. And it actually sounds kind of good.

• 1:59Speaker 03

  Oh, man. My grandmother wouldn't have, there wouldn't have been a pop tart anywhere near her house.

• 2:04Josh Clark?

  Oh, no, she was like that, huh?

• 2:06Speaker 03

  Well, one of them. My one more, I mean, one was sort of the modern grandmother, my mom's mom. They had like TV and stuff like that, a VCR. But Granny Bryant, my dad's mother, was very old school, sort of rural Tennessee. And like, she didn't have a television. She didn't have anything like a pop tart.

• 2:25Josh Clark?

  Right. She's like, if I didn't can it, you're not gonna eat it.

• 2:29Speaker 03

  Yeah. She just kind of had the big jar of grease on the stove that like, she never bought oil in her life. She just kept reusing the same stuff.

• 2:37Josh Clark?

  Man, I'll bet that tasted good, though.

• 2:39Speaker 03

  Yeah, Granny Bryant, the best.

• 2:40Josh Clark?

  Well, that's funny. You said that one of your other grandmother, your mom's mom, was modern.

• 2:46Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 2:46Josh Clark?

  Because that's actually, some theories say that that is what pop tarts grew out of. That there was this huge shift in the 60s.

• 2:57Josh Clark?

  Usually pointed to a second wave feminism, where women began to essentially say like, this whole traditional housewife thing is basically domestic servitude and I'm not down for it anymore. I'm going to work in the workplace. And so convenience food grew up almost immediately to kind of fill that void or whatever, the vacuum that was left, as moms started to move out of the house into the workplace and people still needed to eat.

• 3:28Speaker 03

  That's right. And I feel like this is one where we assume everyone knows what a pop tart is.

• 3:32Josh Clark?

  Oh, yeah.

• 3:33Speaker 03

  And we get punished for that in emails. So a pop tart is a, maybe a breakfast item, but as we'll see in the old ads, it was, it could be for lunch or a snack or whatever. But it is a toaster pastry. It's a little sort of fruit-filled faux pastry that you stick in your toaster, or not. And toast it up or not. And it came about, and we're gonna, you know, we need to thank Livia, but we definitely want to thank Diana Stampler for the website Promote Michigan, because as Livia found and as I found, when it comes to Pop-Tart origin stories, Diana Stampler's is the bomb diggity.

• 4:12Josh Clark?

  She did her homework.

• 4:13Speaker 03

  Yeah, she had a lot of great detail that other places didn't have. So, big thanks to that website. But Pop-Tarts came out of the 1960s and we're gonna have to retell a little bit of our live episode about the Kellogg Cereal Corporation and the Kellogg Brothers, because that's where this story starts. So, we'll give you kind of a quick little overview, right?

• 4:33Josh Clark?

  Yeah, that was our live episode from Sydney. It was good.

• 4:37Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 4:37Josh Clark?

  So, the Kellogg Brothers, William Keith or Will Keith and John Harvey Kellogg, they ran the Battle Creek Sanitarium, which essentially was a health spa, health resort, dedicated to getting you to poop with precise perfectness, right?

• 4:54Speaker 03

  Yeah, and other things.

• 4:55Josh Clark?

  And this was in the 19th century. And so, as a result of this, one of the things that came out of it was the Kellogg Brothers inventing new types of food. And one of the foods that they invented were corn flakes. And almost as importantly as them inventing corn flakes was the, one of their guests, one of their patients coming along, and his name was C.W. Post.

• 5:18Speaker 03

  That's right. He loved those corn flakes and spent a little time there and said, you know what, I'm gonna start making my own cereal. I remember a lot of that, I guess when you do the live show several times, I remember a lot of details from that one, by the way.

• 5:33Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 5:34Speaker 03

  But like, individual jokes even.

• 5:37Josh Clark?

  Oh, lay it on me, buddy.

• 5:39Speaker 03

  Oh, just maybe think of the Elton John album title was that, but I can't remember the name of the machine, the Electric Bath something?

• 5:49Josh Clark?

  Yeah, that's true.

• 5:50Speaker 03

  It sounded like an Elton John.

• 5:51Josh Clark?

  Electric Light Bath.

• 5:52Speaker 03

  Electric Light Bath, was that it?

• 5:53Josh Clark?

  Yes, I remember that. It was like one of those one-person steam rooms where your head stuck out, but it was lights.

• 6:00Speaker 03

  Exactly.

• 6:01Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 6:01Speaker 03

  So that's what was going on at Battle Creek. But CW Post tries that Kellogg cornflake, says, I love this stuff. I'm going to form a company to make it. And the Post company was formed in 1895. And it was about 10 or 11 years after that, that Kellogg got into the cereal business, like legit wise, and established their Battle Creek Toasted Cornflake Company.

• 6:23Josh Clark?

  Yeah, so they're like, we're going to sell these things outside of the sanitarium. And now Post and Kellogg's were direct competitors.

• 6:31Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 6:32Josh Clark?

  In this new emerging cereal market that those two companies created out of thin air. By the time the 60s roll around, a good half a century later, breakfast cereal was a thing. It had been healthy, healthy, healthy. And then I think, starting in 1948, Sugar Crisp was the first sugar cereal that came out. And it was like, wow, they went full bore right out of the gate.

• 6:57Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 6:57Josh Clark?

  I mean, with Sugar Crisp, I think they call it Golden Crisp now because you like, a mob with torches and pitchforks would come after you if you called your cereal Sugar Crisp.

• 7:06Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 7:07Josh Clark?

  But it's the same thing. And that came out in the 40s. So by the time the 60s were around, you had a lot of different sugary cereals. And Kellogg's and Post were making a lot of them. But the upshot of the cereal market being established is there's not a lot of new things you can do. You can come up with a new cereal and it'll be kind of a hit or not. And that's about all you can do. So they started looking for entirely new products to kind of fill, like I said, this vacuum that was being left by second wave feminism, getting women out of the house and into the workplace. So they were like, we need to come up with convenience foods that are even more convenient than cereal.

• 7:45Speaker 03

  Yeah, than pouring something out of a box and adding milk.

• 7:47Josh Clark?

  Mm hmm, and then reading the back of the box.

• 7:50Speaker 03

  Or water, in the case of, was that Fridays?

• 7:53Josh Clark?

  You better put some water in that damn.

• 7:57Josh Clark?

  I love that one.

• 7:58Speaker 03

  So classic. So this was also a time, a post-war sort of food science boom was happening, where they were making all this sort of dehydrated, space-age astronaut food and stuff like that. So that had a lot to do with it as well. And Post was experimenting with that stuff and experimenting with wrapping things in foil, dehydrating or partially dehydrating stuff. And they said, alright, we're making these Gainsburgers. This dog crumbly, you know, looks like a meat burger for your dog that's wrapped in foil that you break apart.

• 8:32Josh Clark?

  Do you remember those?

• 8:33Speaker 03

  Oh, yeah.

• 8:33Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 8:34Speaker 03

  They're still around, right? Or did they go away?

• 8:36Josh Clark?

  They ran away in the 90s, I read.

• 8:38Speaker 03

  Oh, interesting.

• 8:39Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 8:40Speaker 03

  I definitely remember Gainsburgers, because I always remember thinking like, those are the luckiest dogs in the world.

• 8:45Josh Clark?

  Do you, yeah, it was like-

• 8:47Speaker 03

  My family would never buy that stuff.

• 8:48Josh Clark?

  No, same here. That was like luxury dog food at the time, but now it'd be like, I wouldn't even feed this to-

• 8:54Speaker 03

  Oh, no.

• 8:55Josh Clark?

  A rat.

• 8:56Speaker 03

  Yeah. So they're experimenting with like foil-wrapped things, and as you'll see, that's what Pop-Tarts were wrapped in, so that's why that's kind of key. And they said, alright, we've invented a pastry filled with fruit, like a fruit mixture, and we figured out how to make it shelf-stable, so it doesn't need to go in the fridge, and how to have it not collect bacteria over time.

• 9:19Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 9:19Speaker 03

  And toasters on the counter were a thing now, instead of just having to use the oven for everything. And so they shaped them into a toaster-sized thing, wrapped it in foil, and in October 1963, the Battle Creek Inquirer newspaper reported that these Country Squares, which is what they're calling them, is the latest and greatest food that you're gonna want on your breakfast table.

• 9:44Josh Clark?

  Yeah, and it took me a little while, but I wondered if Country Squares was a play on Country Squire.

• 9:50Speaker 03

  What's Country Squier?

• 9:52Josh Clark?

  It was a landowner, a rural landowner in medieval England.

• 9:57Speaker 03

  Hmm, I doubt it, but you never know.

• 9:59Josh Clark?

  Okay, they call them country squares. Let's just leave it at that. Okay, Josh? Fine.

• 10:05Josh Clark?

  But this was Post. This wasn't Kellogg's who ended up making the Pop-Tart. This was Post who was breaking new ground with these little handheld toaster heated pastries, right?

• 10:16Speaker 03

  That's right.

• 10:16Josh Clark?

  Problem was, the, I don't know if the Battle Creek Inquirer got in there and had a spy, or else if there was a really dumb vice president that was getting exposure in the Battle Creek Inquirer. But Post was not ready to go to market with these things. They had a recipe, but they didn't know how they were gonna package it, market it, get it out to stores. So they had many months of development left ahead of them when news broke. Well, it just so happens that the higher ups at companies like Kellogg read the Battle Creek Inquirer, because they're in the same town. And this gave them the ability to catch up, because they were caught totally off guard by this.

• 10:55Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 10:55Josh Clark?

  But it gave them the ability to catch up, scramble, and create their own versions. And I believe Pop-Tarts ended up beating country squares to market.

• 11:03Speaker 03

  Yeah, I think the vice president of Kellogg says, "What is this, country squares?" And someone said, "It's a rural landowner in England." No, there was a vice president, though, named William Lamoth. And he had a guy working there in the kitchen named Doc Joe Thompson. And he said, "Get to work. We need our own pastry." And it would be their first foray into any kind of little bakery product like that. And they wanted a partner, because they, you know, again, they were just cereal people, so.

• 11:32Josh Clark?

  Well, plus, everybody likes to have a partner.

• 11:34Speaker 03

  Yeah, exactly. So they went to the Heckman Biscuit Company, which was conveniently also in Michigan. They had been around selling Dutch cookies since the beginning of the late 19th century, door to door. And by the 1960s, when this is happening, their division of the United Biscuit Company of America, which would eventually become Keebler in 66, right there in Grand Rapids, they had a great, modern, industrial bakery. And it was a really, sort of a great partnership out of the gate.

• 12:05Josh Clark?

  Grand Rapids, by the way, just a little personal aside, is where I learned that I actually love frog legs.

• 12:11Speaker 03

  Oh, really?

• 12:12Josh Clark?

  Yeah, there was this dinner theater in Grand Rapids that my family used to go to when I was growing up in Toledo and

• 12:17Speaker 03

  The frog leg theater?

• 12:18Josh Clark?

  On their buffet, they had frog legs and I would, I tried them once and I was like, oh my God, these are amazing. I don't think I would eat one now, but when I was like eight, nine, 10, I would eat some frog legs.

• 12:30Speaker 03

  I don't know where it was, buddy, but I tried frog legs on a buffet in the 1970s or early 80s.

• 12:39Speaker 03

  Yeah, and I thought, hey, this tastes like chicken.

• 12:42Josh Clark?

  Kind of. It's the weird skin that really throws it off, though.

• 12:47Speaker 03

  Uh, these were fried, so I don't remember the skin, and this is a very distant memory, so, but I'm with you. I couldn't eat a frog now.

• 12:54Josh Clark?

  These were not fried. These were like braised.

• 12:57Speaker 03

  No, mine were fried.

• 12:58Josh Clark?

  So, back to, um, thanks for indulging me.

• 13:01Speaker 03

  Sure.

• 13:02Josh Clark?

  So, back to the Heckman Biscuit Company. At the time, they were making stuff like macaroons, butter cookies, vanilla wafers, windmills, ginger snaps, all your favorite like old timey cookies. This company was making, and to make all this stuff, they had just a really knockout dynamite production facility. So, it was a good idea to go to them. Apparently, the Heckman Company wasn't fully on board with this. But there was a guy named William Post, no relation to the Post Cereal Company, who was in this, did work for Heckman at their Grand Rapids factory, and he's like, I'll do this. I'll take this project on.

• 13:42Speaker 03

  Yeah, and it wasn't an official thing. I think it was a handshake agreement at first. They started, you know, testing out versions, giving them to their kids to try, of course, which is sort of the usual story when food science is involved. And Dan, I think the son of William Post, again, supposedly no relation. Quite a coincidence, though, don't you think?

• 14:04Josh Clark?

  It is quite a, yeah, almost suspicious.

• 14:07Speaker 03

  Yeah, I agree. Uh, but little Dan said, "They taste like cardboard." And they said, "All right, uh, let's go back to the drawing board." And he said, "Well, these explode when you put them in the toaster, Dad." And they said, "All right, well, let's, uh, poke some holes in it, like, you know how you score a pie, um, for the same reason that you bake in an oven." They started scoring, uh, the dough for the, you know, and, and kind of solved that problem out of the gate.

• 14:34Josh Clark?

  Well, yeah, that's why there's little holes in Pop-Tarts still today.

• 14:37Speaker 03

  That's right, because they will explode.

• 14:39Josh Clark?

  It's true.

• 14:41Speaker 03

  Fruit expands, I guess, or fruit-like stuff. And they initially set on, as Daniel Day-Lewis would say, fruit scones. The rest of us would say fruit scones. And I think there were four flavors out of the gate. Strawberry, blueberry, and apple currant that were partnered with Smuckers, another great idea, to provide their fruit filling. And then, oh baby, the fourth one, the all-time great, brown sugar cinnamon.

• 15:12Josh Clark?

  Yep, that's the best one, hands down.

• 15:14Speaker 03

  Oh, you too, huh?

• 15:15Josh Clark?

  Oh, yes.

• 15:16Speaker 03

  Okay, great. What a relief.

• 15:18Josh Clark?

  Yeah, some Lipton blackberry tea and brown sugar cinnamon pop tarts in the evening was just a great way to wind down after a long day in third grade.

• 15:28Speaker 03

  So what is that garbage Jerry said before we recorded?

• 15:31Josh Clark?

  She talked about her grandmother making

• 15:34Speaker 03

  Not that part.

• 15:35Josh Clark?

  Making, uh, blueberry, I believe, blueberry pop tarts that were unfrosted and buttering them.

• 15:42Speaker 03

  Okay, well, I was gonna hang on to that for my final tip, but I might as well launch into it now. That is the secret to pop tarts. Put it in the toaster, toast it up, for me, brown sugar cinnamon. Then you get a stick of butter, I think I've said this on another episode, and maybe our breakfast, uh, episode.

• 15:59Josh Clark?

  Okay.

• 16:01Speaker 03

  And then you just take that stick of butter, don't even like cut off a piece, just unwrap it a little bit, flip it over to the, to the non-frosted side, and just sort of rub it on there. And then, don't forget about that frosted side, my friend. Flip it back over, butter up that frosted side a little and the edges, and get those corners. And, because the problem with pop tarts to me is they're always a little too dry, where there's no filling, and this solves the problem. It's buttery, it's delicious, I highly recommend it.

• 16:29Josh Clark?

  Okay. If you mentioned that before, then there's a 100% chance that I followed up with this. That I have, um, I heard of that from Jessica Simpson.

• 16:39Speaker 03

  Oh.

• 16:40Josh Clark?

  Who mentioned, I guess when she was pregnant, she was craving buttered pop tarts. And I hadn't heard of it until then.

• 16:46Speaker 03

  It's the finishing touch, it's the cherry on top. It, it really, uh, it really finishes it off nicely.

• 16:50Josh Clark?

  So you do that with the brown sugar cinnamon version?

• 16:54Speaker 03

  Dude, every version, but that's the only version I'll eat. And I gotta, gotta say, I don't, I don't eat Pop Tarts anymore. Like, I can't remember the last Pop Tart I had. But I can't walk down that aisle without looking at them and going, oh, man. If you fall into my basket, maybe you'll make it out of the store.

• 17:10Josh Clark?

  Right. I, so I love brown sugar cinnamon, since we're talking about personal preferences. But for the fruit ones, I used to be all strawberry as a kid. And it was just because I never ventured out. And once I grew up a little more and my tastes really started to develop, I found that cherry is actually the top fruit.

• 17:30Speaker 03

  Oh.

• 17:31Josh Clark?

  Did not know that until, I don't know, maybe 10 years ago.

• 17:35Speaker 03

  Okay, I'll have to, I mean, this is, I'm gonna buy some Pop Tarts just to try some of these again.

• 17:40Josh Clark?

  Try cherry.

• 17:41Speaker 03

  All right, I'll try cherry. Oh, they're frosted, I take it?

• 17:44Josh Clark?

  Yes. I mean, I don't even know why they make them unfrosted. That's crazy.

• 17:49Speaker 03

  Those are the kind I had to eat growing up here and there. They weren't even called Pop Tarts. I think they were called toaster pastries and there was no frosting in sight.

• 17:54Josh Clark?

  Yeah, and your grandma canned them.

• 17:57Speaker 03

  Uh, but do that, does the cherry have sprinkles? Because I don't love the sprinkles, but it's just sort of part of the frosting, so it doesn't stand out too, too much.

• 18:04Josh Clark?

  Cherry has everything you want. Not only does it have sprinkles, Chuck, it has like sugar crystals. Yes, dude, you're gonna love cherry, believe me. I expect a text later on with you thanking me for recommending cherry Pop Tarts.

• 18:19Speaker 03

  Yeah, Ruby's never had a Pop Tart, so we're gonna, we're gonna blow her mind.

• 18:23Josh Clark?

  Start on.

• 18:24Speaker 03

  All right, so, uh, well, I guess we should probably take a break.

• 18:28Josh Clark?

  Yeah, we just, we kind of got off course here.

• 18:31Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah, okay, we left off at Fruit Scone and Smuckers and the launching of the original four, and we'll come back and pick it up right after this.

• 19:01Josh Clark?

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• 19:23Josh Clark?

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• 19:39Speaker 03

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• 20:01Speaker 04

  First thought is like, wow, how are we going to do all this?

• 20:04Josh Clark?

  Hey, this is Josh and Chuck from Stuff You Should Know.

• 20:07Speaker 03

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• 20:23Speaker 04

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• 20:30Josh Clark?

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• 20:54Josh Clark?

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• 21:06Josh Clark?

  Sure.

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  Yeah, because it's a process. There's always something you could do, or buy, or update. The only question is, what's next? For us, our animals just wear out our rugs so quickly. It's usually a new rug.

• 21:17Josh Clark?

  Well, Chuck, whether you need a rug, or whatever is next for you, you can go to Wayfair. It's the smart place to get it.

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• 21:35Josh Clark?

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• 22:21Josh Clark?

  Okay, Chuck, so those original fruit scones, the prototype, the "er" Pop-Tart, I guess you'd call it if you're a weirdo. They were not exactly what you'd recognize as Pop-Tarts today. I think if you put them next to a Pop-Tart, it wouldn't be like night and day. But one of the big differences was the fruit scones had a diagonal score going across them. Not quite from corner to corner, but a little more in the middle. And you could kind of break them in half, like you would have like a grilled cheese sandwich kind of cut like that.

• 22:54Speaker 03

  Yeah, and none of these first ones were frosted either, we should point out.

• 22:58Josh Clark?

  No, it took years, a couple of years, because all of the frostings that they came up with initially essentially either melted or caught fire in the toaster. So they did not have the frosting out of the gate yet. But one thing that Pop-Tarts still are, that was part of the initial rollout, was their package together, two per package.

• 23:19Josh Clark?

  And the reason why was just simply cost cutting. Like if they had individually packaged each Pop-Tart, it would have cost them a lot more. But it also makes me wonder how many people over the last like 60 something years would have only eaten one Pop-Tart? If they were individually wrapped.

• 23:39Speaker 03

  Fools.

• 23:40Josh Clark?

  You open that, you open the package, you got one. What are you gonna do like? Roll up the other one? You can't. The foil is designed, I'm sure, to tear open in ways that you can't reseal it. So you have to eat both of them essentially.

• 23:54Speaker 03

  Yeah, I was a little disappointed to know it was a cost cutting measure. Cause I was just like, I thought someone, you know, Mr. Post decreed from on high, they shall be eaten two at a time.

• 24:06Josh Clark?

  Well, that's the actually the serving size. If you read the back of the box, which is nuts. Cause you could, if it were just individually wrapped, you could say one Pop-Tart is a serving and people would be used to that.

• 24:17Speaker 03

  Yeah, true. Those first Pop-Tarts too. They were a little more rounded on the corners. Not quite as squared off.

• 24:26Josh Clark?

  Unrecognizable.

• 24:27Speaker 03

  And honestly, they look delicious, even unfrosted. It looks more like, and I know this is an ad. I sent you and Jerry like an old ad from the 60s, but and ads are made to make the food look beautiful, but it looks way more like a pie than what they have out today. You know?

• 24:42Josh Clark?

  Yeah, like the edges are way more like a pie crust.

• 24:45Speaker 03

  Yeah, it looks kind of crimped or whatever. Yeah.

• 24:48Josh Clark?

  So I think after this, this all happened, like you said, poor Dan Post was taking bite after bite and saying like, these are disgusting, but within four months of Kellogg's approaching Henckels, they had like a ready for market Pop-Tart developed.

• 25:04Speaker 03

  Yeah, or Brutzcon. They changed the name, I think, pretty quickly to Pop-Tarts, which I never knew this. This was a play on pop art, which is a big thing at the time with, you know, Andy Warhol and his factory. And I had no idea that it was just sort of a little clever nod to that.

• 25:21Josh Clark?

  I didn't either. I didn't realize Pop-Tarts were quite so cool.

• 25:24Speaker 03

  Agreed.

• 25:25Josh Clark?

  So the trademark for the brand was filed on June 20th, 1964.

• 25:31Josh Clark?

  They started shipping out the first cases on September 14th and they chose Cleveland as their test market.

• 25:37Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 25:37Josh Clark?

  Cleveland went bonkers for these things. I saw in the first two weeks, they sold 10 million boxes of Pop-Tarts.

• 25:45Speaker 03

  Oh my god.

• 25:46Josh Clark?

  By December 30th, so just a couple of months.

• 25:49Speaker 03

  Wait, 2 million boxes?

• 25:51Josh Clark?

  Yes, 10 million boxes of Pop-Tarts. So they started shipping them in September. By the end of the year, they had to run an ad saying, hey, sorry, we ran out. We didn't think you guys were going to be this into it. We're working literally around the clock to get more Pop-Tarts out to you. And by the end of the year, they were making, they had made a billion Pop-Tarts and were selling them like, like hotcakes, but more like hotcake flavored Pop-Tarts.

• 26:17Speaker 03

  Yeah, and so if you're wondering like, well, what about Post who sort of invented this? They weren't first to market. They, they finally released their country squares. And they quickly were like, well, that name stinks. So they rebrand, everyone's getting us confused with rural landowners.

• 26:32Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 26:32Speaker 03

  So they rebranded them to Toastem Fruit Filled Pop Ups. Sold that off in 1971 to Schultz and Birch Biscuit Company. They still make those. I think they're still the same name even.

• 26:45Josh Clark?

  Toastems.

• 26:46Speaker 03

  Yeah, and they've been different, you know, sort of, like I said, I grew up with this, the sort of cheap version. I think they were called toaster pastries. Nabisco had one called Toastettes that they finally stopped selling in 2002. Pillsbury, I will say the toaster strudel, when it came out in 1985, was a pretty big hot item, I remember.

• 27:08Josh Clark?

  Yeah, because it was a unfrosted Pop-Tart. Much more pastry, like flaky pastry than, than a Pop-Tart is.

• 27:16Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 27:17Josh Clark?

  The key was, the gimmick was that came with frosting separated. So you put frosting on it. And I was crazy for these.

• 27:24Speaker 03

  Squeeze it into your mouth at the end, you know?

• 27:25Josh Clark?

  Exactly, yes. And I was crazy for these things and I guess I got a bad batch or something once.

• 27:31Speaker 03

  Oh no.

• 27:32Josh Clark?

  Sick off of it. And now just seeing those two words together makes my stomach turn.

• 27:36Speaker 03

  No way.

• 27:37Josh Clark?

  Yes, I would, I couldn't eat, I couldn't be in the same room as a toaster strudel again.

• 27:43Speaker 03

  That was like me with beef jerky for a solid 10 years.

• 27:46Josh Clark?

  You poor bastard.

• 27:48Speaker 03

  I know. All right. So they keep developing these things. The very first ones was just the pastry and the filling. They added that frosting in 1967. Like you said, once they came up with one that wouldn't slide off and kill your house, basically.

• 28:04Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 28:05Speaker 03

  The first frosted ones were Dutch apple, concord grape. Boy, that sounds good. Raspberry, that sounds good. And of course, brown sugar cinnamon. Then they added the sprinkles the year after that. And since then, they've just been coming up with kind of new crazy flavors. Sometimes, obviously, special editions, co-branding, and just trying new things.

• 28:26Josh Clark?

  Yeah. So just to kind of put this into perspective. They, out of the gate, remember, Post was supposed to be the first to do this. Pop-Tarts just destroyed Post and everybody else so much that I think that they have something like 80% of the market share for that kind of product. In 2014, The Wall Street Journal reported they had growth in sales. So every year, they sold more than they had the year before for 32 straight years.

• 28:57Speaker 03

  Wow.

• 28:57Josh Clark?

  And that in 2022, they sold 3 billion Pop-Tarts.

• 29:03Speaker 03

  Boxes or individual tarts?

• 29:04Josh Clark?

  It's, I don't know. If you put it like that, then it's probably individual Pop-Tarts. So I'm going to go back and revise my thing about that first year to 1 billion Pop-Tarts, which is still impressive.

• 29:15Speaker 03

  Yeah. I mean, once you get into those kind of numbers, you're kind of splitting hairs, you know?

• 29:19Josh Clark?

  Yeah, it's true, man. Thanks for saying that because I was feeling pretty down about myself for a second.

• 29:24Speaker 03

  No, no, no, no. You're great. So in 1968, one of the little side products they made was called, and this is Kellogg's, called the Danish Go-Round. They were trying to make it look more like a Danish, like a real Danish. Because at like little ladies' garden parties and stuff, it's like, why make a Danish when you can just buy these? They didn't do so great. They crumbled up a lot. So they replaced them with the Danish Rings in 77 and then just got out of the Danish market in the 80s.

• 29:52Josh Clark?

  Yeah, which is kind of sad because Danishes are great.

• 29:54Speaker 03

  Yeah, the cheese Danish?

• 29:56Josh Clark?

  Yes, I think it's probably my favorite too.

• 29:59Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 30:00Josh Clark?

  In 1971, they're like, okay, we've got this whole pop tart thing down. Let's see what else we can do with this thing. And they came up with presto pizza.

• 30:07Speaker 03

  Hmm, bad idea.

• 30:09Josh Clark?

  It was a pizza version of pop tarts. And they put it in the same box and everything. The problem was that there was not enough sauce and too much dough. Not anything else is the problem with it. It was just that it was too doughy. And so it went away pretty quick, but it was a good attempt, I guess.

• 30:28Speaker 03

  Yeah, when I said it was a bad idea, I think it's actually a great idea. But you just, you can't get enough sauce and cheese and, and whatever in that form to make it like, like, you know, we make these when we go camping with pie irons. You ever heard of pie irons?

• 30:42Josh Clark?

  Sure.

• 30:43Speaker 03

  Oh, you have?

• 30:44Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 30:45Speaker 03

  Oh, okay.

• 30:45Josh Clark?

  Like a hand pie iron, right?

• 30:47Speaker 03

  Yeah, you like, you know, you take two pieces of bread, you butter up the little iron and then it's hinged. And you put, like, we put pizza sauce and pepperoni and cheese and you squeeze them together and then you bake it over campfire. And that's thick enough to where you can actually have enough stuff, but a pop tart's just not thick enough.

• 31:02Josh Clark?

  Well, plus also now today, if you came out with that, everybody'd say, this isn't like a Hot Pocket. So what's the point?

• 31:10Speaker 03

  Yeah, yeah, good point.

• 31:11Josh Clark?

  You know, but I'll bet it burns your tongue like a Hot Pocket if you ate it too soon. Or a Gino's pizza roll. Is there anything that can burn a tongue worse than a Gino's pizza roll? Cause you just, you eat them too soon. You can't wait around for them to cool off enough.

• 31:26Speaker 03

  Yeah, that's a garbage food that I wasn't allowed to have much and we don't have at our house. But at, at Ruby's pool party this year, I just needed something easy to put in the oven to make for a bunch of kids. And I got freaking pizza rolls.

• 31:41Josh Clark?

  What'd you think?

• 31:43Speaker 03

  They're not great, but the kids loved them.

• 31:45Josh Clark?

  Oh, I haven't had one in a while. I'll have to go back and revisit it or else maybe I'll just not.

• 31:50Speaker 03

  Hmm, you have a more sophisticated palate now. I would, I would just lean on nostalgia and what a great memory you have.

• 31:56Josh Clark?

  Okay, thank you for that.

• 31:58Speaker 03

  I don't think we need to go through all these other things. I mean, they made Pop-Tart Bites, little crisps, and all sorts of little side products that kind of came and went, like all products do. They try to spin things off and it usually doesn't work out.

• 32:11Josh Clark?

  No, don't forget Pop-Tart cereal. That kind of made a splash for a minute.

• 32:16Speaker 03

  I didn't try that. I hadn't heard of that. Did you have that?

• 32:19Josh Clark?

  What's weird is I remember eating it as a younger person, but apparently it came out in 2018. So either I made up the idea that I ate it or I was way older than I remember when I ate it.

• 32:31Speaker 03

  It was just like seven years ago.

• 32:33Josh Clark?

  Yeah, exactly.

• 32:33Speaker 03

  When you were a child.

• 32:34Josh Clark?

  Right. So essentially what Pop-Tarts finally did was it's like what we did. Like, we tried a TV show. We tried Sirius XM. We tried going on other people's shows. And everyone was like, "We just want to hear you podcast." That's essentially what Pop-Tarts did. They finally just put it all in to mostly just making Pop-Tarts in new, interesting flavors.

• 32:57Speaker 03

  Yeah, well, it helped that no one called us after a while.

• 33:01Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 33:02Speaker 03

  When the opportunities dried up, you know?

• 33:03Josh Clark?

  I took it as, you know, "We just want to hear you podcast."

• 33:07Speaker 03

  No, I'm with you. Marketing-wise, you know, we did an episode recently on Saturday Morning Cartoons and a lot of it, to some listeners' disappointment, as it turns out, was about marketing to children, like sugar cereals and things like that during Saturday Morning Cartoons. And Pop-Tarts was, I mean, definitely one of the, I was about to say worst offenders, but maybe I should just say one of the best at it. Because they ran tons and tons of commercials saying like, "Put them in the lunchbox. Eat them for breakfast. Have them as a snack." Like, really, you can serve them warm. You can have them in between meals. You can eat them right out of the foil.

• 33:46Josh Clark?

  Yeah, we'll get to that in a second.

• 33:48Speaker 03

  What, right out of the foil?

• 33:49Josh Clark?

  Yeah, do you do that?

• 33:52Speaker 03

  I have only done that in a pinch. I used to throw these in the backpack for camping trips when I was young, before they had a ton of like granola bars and stuff.

• 34:01Josh Clark?

  Sure.

• 34:01Speaker 03

  Like now, there's so much of that. But back then, I would just throw some Pop-Tarts in the backpack and I would eat them out of the package. But it's not great.

• 34:07Josh Clark?

  It can be done, but no, it's not great.

• 34:10Speaker 03

  Which what I do then is, is I I I tear off the edges, so I just have the frosted center.

• 34:15Josh Clark?

  Oh, yeah. And you leave the the edges to nature?

• 34:18Speaker 03

  That's right.

• 34:18Josh Clark?

  To the wolves tracking you?

• 34:20Speaker 03

  Yeah, exactly.

• 34:22Josh Clark?

  Uh, they did come up with a mascot for a very short time, which is weird, because this is exactly the kind of brand that would have a mascot, right?

• 34:31Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 34:31Josh Clark?

  Um, but they ditched Milton the toaster pretty quickly when they debuted him in 1971. But they continued on, like you said, advertising, like any time you watch Saturday morning cartoons, they were on. After school cartoons, they were on, like if you were a kid watching TV, you probably saw a Pop-Tart commercial.

• 34:50Speaker 03

  Yeah, I looked up Milton the toaster and I remember Milton the toaster, so I don't know if it was reruns or what, but I remember seeing Milton firmly in my brain. Uh, I think these days they're they adopted a slogan called Crazy Good.

• 35:03Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 35:04Speaker 03

  And they've been running since sort of like 2004, all kinds of ads, um, with under the Crazy Good banner. Uh, and I think they ran one from 2004 to 2008 that, uh, supposedly increased Pop-Tart eating in 10 to 12 year olds by 28% in 2005, uh, which is a pretty big uptick for kids and Pop-Tarts.

• 35:28Josh Clark?

  For sure. Um, speaking of their ads, though, I don't, uh, remember Milton at all, but I do remember this one that I cannot find on the internet. But it goes pop, pop, pop, pop, my feet can't stop, pop, pop, pop, pop, Kellogg's Pop-Tarts.

• 35:45Speaker 03

  I don't remember that one.

• 35:46Josh Clark?

  There was also, um, well, I made it made that up too, when I was eating Pop-Tart cereal in 2018. There was also a campaign called So Hot They're Cool and another one called Snacula. So if you're a millennial or Gen X or like that pretty much covers you. And then it seems like Gen Z was getting the Crazy Good, uh, campaign, which is still around. But it's like these crudely drawn Pop-Tarts and they like kill each other to eat one another kind of thing. It's just weird and bizarre and off the wall.

• 36:16Speaker 03

  Interesting. Well, they took over the Citrus Bowl, the college football game played in Orlando a couple of years ago. It's now the Pop-Tarts Bowl, and I think it'll be in its third year on the next one. And they have, you know, these interesting tie-ins where they have three different mascots and the MVP of the game picks the mascot.

• 36:39Speaker 03

  So, you know, they're tying in stuff like that. They say it's kind of fun. I think they they like to tout their, just sort of out of the box thinking as far as marketing goes. And we should also say they spun that Pop-Tarts off from Kellogg into its own company. A lot of times food brands will do that. So, Pop-Tarts, along with a few other things, was spun out into a company that sounds straight out of the movie Gattaca. It's called Kellinova.

• 37:05Josh Clark?

  It is. It is kind of unsettling for some reason. But that Pop-Tarts Bowl, the MVP doesn't just pick the mascot. He picks the mascot to kill and eat. And they have like a giant Pop-Tart that's, I think, 73 times the size of a regular Pop-Tart. And for a little while, they sold it for $60. They called it the party pastry, just a giant-

• 37:28Speaker 03

  I feel like that's a really good price.

• 37:29Josh Clark?

  I thought so, too. It seems like a real value.

• 37:32Speaker 03

  I mean, I saw this, a picture of this thing on a kitchen table and it, that's cheaper than a decent birthday cake.

• 37:39Josh Clark?

  Yeah. I mean, let's say you have eight, eight pack of Pop-Tarts.

• 37:45Speaker 03

  Well, they're sold in sixes, though, right?

• 37:46Josh Clark?

  I think they're sold six, eight, 14, a million. There's like a bunch of different ones. 24, I'm pretty sure. But I can tell you 73 times the size of a regular Pop-Tart does not translate to $60 more. So it is a really great value. You can't find it anymore, though, unfortunately. Sorry. If you're a thrifty type and you buy one big party pastry and cut them into individual Pop-Tart sized shapes and then pack them away in the freezer, you can't do that anymore.

• 38:14Speaker 03

  Ooh, I bet that centerpiece is so good.

• 38:17Josh Clark?

  Yeah, I'll bet it is, too.

• 38:19Speaker 03

  Have we taken a second break?

• 38:20Josh Clark?

  I don't think so, man. I think we should now.

• 38:23Speaker 03

  All right. We'll take a second break and talk about everybody's favorite topic, health and safety, right after this.

• 38:49Josh Clark?

  Buy smart, drive for less, and trade for more. That's Toyota affordability, and it all starts with a great deal on a truck from your local Toyota dealer.

• 38:59Speaker 03

  That's right. Make a smart buy on the off-road Ready Tacoma or half-ton Tundra, two of Toyota's most capable and longest-lasting trucks, built with the strength for the tough jobs, the tech to power your next big adventure, and the rugged style for everything in between.

• 39:12Josh Clark?

  Or discover Toyota's off-road lineup, including the iconic 4Runner and Land Cruiser, designed to go beyond the everyday. And with Toyota's proven reputation for quality and reliability, plus hybrid power on many models, you can get more for every mile and drive for less along the way.

• 39:27Speaker 03

  That's right. And long after you leave the lot, your Toyota keeps delivering with great resale value. So you can trade in for more when you're ready for your next Toyota. From a great deal today to a great value tomorrow, a Toyota is right for you. Shop toyota.com for deals and details, or stop by your local Toyota dealer today. Toyota, let's go places.

• 39:52Josh Clark?

  Everyone has a story to tell. What's yours? The moment you met your partner, landed that promotion? For people living with a rare disease, life can feel divided into before-the-diagnosis and all the after-moments that follow. On Voices of VivGart, VivGart is also known as its generic name, Fgart Tigamod Alpha F Cab, you'll hear powerful stories from people facing challenges and embracing a life with a rare disease.

• 40:16Speaker 03

  Join host Andra Stratten as she guides listeners through honest conversations about life after diagnosis. You'll hear how each guest worked with her care team on their treatment plan, as well as their personal challenges, setbacks, progress, and moments of connection.

• 40:28Josh Clark?

  These stories reveal that life is bigger than a moment, a condition, or a tough day. Listen to Voices of VivGart on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

• 40:45Josh Clark?

  World Mental Health Day takes place in October, and it's really meant to be more than just awareness. It's about actually taking the next step and getting support if you need it.

• 40:54Speaker 03

  But a lot of people still talk themselves out of therapy. They think it's too expensive. They're not sure if it'll actually work. They don't know how to find the right therapist, or they just get overwhelmed trying to navigate the whole system.

• 41:04Josh Clark?

  And that's exactly what Rula is built to fix. Rula makes therapy feel a lot more approachable, a lot more human. You can find a therapist who actually fits your needs, not just whoever's available. And with insurance, sessions average around $15 copay.

• 41:18Speaker 03

  Yeah, you can sign up in just a few minutes. You can get matched with the right provider and even book something as soon as the next day.

• 41:23Josh Clark?

  And it's not just about starting. Rula helps you stay consistent and actually make progress because taking care of your mental health isn't a one-time thing. So if you've been thinking about therapy, don't talk yourself out of it. This is a really easy way to take that first step.

• 41:36Speaker 03

  So turn off the talk track that's keeping you from progress and head to rula.com, that is R-U-L-A dot com, to find a therapist the easy way.

• 42:10Speaker 03

  All right, so we kind of made a joke earlier about the frosting sliding off and burning your kitchen down. I didn't find where it had ever burnt a house down, but over the decades, there have been a lot of reports about Pop-Tart fires. In 1993, it came a little more to the forefront of pop culture when syndicated humor columnist Dave Barry...

• 42:33Speaker 03

  Wrote about a report from Dover, Ohio, where there was a Pop-Tart fire in the toaster. And, you know, it was legit. I think they found, the, the fire department did tests, and they found that if you just leave that thing in there, your toaster can shoot flames three feet high. And supposedly Dave Barry recreated this outdoors as part of his humor column.

• 42:54Josh Clark?

  I saw a website called flamingtoasters.com. They did this experiment, too. They put two in a toaster, and you need a malfunctioning toaster that never pops up.

• 43:04Speaker 03

  Right.

• 43:04Josh Clark?

  So that they continue to heat up. Because they're designed to make it through like a good, long toaster cycle without catching fire. But if the toaster cycle never ends, the Pop-Tart's in big trouble. They got 18-inch-high flames in four minutes, 42 seconds of toasting. But roundly, around the internet, I've seen these flames, these aren't your like campfire flames. I've seen them described as like blowtorch-like. So there's like flames going out of your toaster. And apparently, the reason why is because of all of the high-fructose corn syrup inside the filling. If it heats up too much, kaboom, and it catches fire.

• 43:45Speaker 03

  Yeah, and I think those, I mean, it's unique. It's not like toast will do that, because that filling, A, with the high-fructose corn syrup, but B, that filling packed in that pastry just retains a lot of heat.

• 43:56Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 43:57Speaker 03

  And it just, yeah, it's a pretty volatile, can be a pretty volatile situation. I think the Philly Inquirer in 2001 reported that the US Customer Product Safety Commission had 17 reports of Pop-Tart fires. And eventually, of course, there would be a lawsuit. In 1995, Pop-Tart settled. The plaintiff's attorney apparently threatened, I don't know if it was in jest or not, to call in Dave Barry to go to trial. And Pop-Tart said, "We'll give you two grand." And they said, "2,500." And Pop-Tart said, "2,400." And they said, "Deal."

• 44:31Josh Clark?

  Deal.

• 44:33Speaker 03

  Twenty four hundred bucks.

• 44:34Josh Clark?

  Right. I guess. And then the attorney took like two thousand of that.

• 44:40Speaker 03

  Yeah, probably.

• 44:41Josh Clark?

  So, um, one of the things that Pop Tarts also gets, um, I guess bounced around for is because they're just not healthy in any way, shape or form.

• 44:50Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 44:51Josh Clark?

  So unhealthy that there was, um, another, uh, it wasn't a lawsuit, but they got pressure from this, um, Children's Advertising Review Unit to remove the phrase "made with real fruit" from its packaging.

• 45:03Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 45:04Josh Clark?

  Because the amount of fruit in it is so paltry that they don't even have the right to say that on their box anymore. Um, and the reason why is because, so, uh, serving size is two of, say, Frosted Strawberry Pop Tarts, three hundred and seventy calories, thirty-one grams of sugar, eight grams of fat, but here's the healthy part, one gram of fiber and four grams of protein, which can only be explained as accidental.

• 45:31Speaker 03

  Yeah. A byproduct. I wonder if on the nutritional thing, it also accounts for added butter.

• 45:39Josh Clark?

  Right. With butter, a million calories.

• 45:43Speaker 03

  Uh, yeah, you mentioned, um, the, the fruit content. I think in twenty twenty-one, there were four plaintiffs that filed a five million dollar class action suit that said, "Hey, this is false advertising. You got pictures of strawberries on this thing on the box." And, uh, you mentioned there wasn't much actual fruit in there. There is a, a quantification of that. The whole grain Frosted Strawberry Pop Tart contains less than two percent each of dried pear, apple and strawberry. And the strawberry Pop Tart is, uh, the strawberry is the third of those fruits, which, you know, they're listed in order of how much they have. So there's more pear and apple in a strawberry Pop Tart than strawberry.

• 46:22Josh Clark?

  Right. So they're not healthy.

• 46:25Speaker 03

  No.

• 46:25Josh Clark?

  Which, um, so you can imagine my surprise when I was looking for articles about the health or the health impact or how unhealthy Pop Tarts are, that I found an article titled, "Can Pop Tarts Really Help With Weight Loss?"

• 46:40Josh Clark?

  I was like, are you kidding me? And if you read the article, six paragraphs in, they're like, no, absolutely not. It can't help with weight loss at all.

• 46:48Speaker 03

  Clickbait.

• 46:48Josh Clark?

  But it kind of underscores this trend that I've noticed just in the last couple of months, Chuck, of just a slew of long tail, which means like really, really specific articles, clearly written by AI. And they're all the same. There'll be like a short introduction, then there'll be the table of contents. And then they'll go section, section, section. And all the sections are like basically one paragraph. They're totally convoluted. The sections will repeat themselves. They're often giving contradictory information. It's just crap. And it's essentially the dead internet theory finally come to pass where it's just AI writing articles for other AI to be trained on.

• 47:31Josh Clark?

  And we humans have just been pushed to the side and given articles with the clickbaity titles, can Pop-Tarts really help with weight loss?

• 47:40Speaker 03

  Emily bought a AI book by accident off Amazon. It was a pottery book and she got it and she was like, wait a minute. She's like, this isn't a real person. And she tried to look up the author, didn't exist.

• 47:50Josh Clark?

  Wow.

• 47:51Speaker 03

  Yeah, obviously returned it and was, you know, not too happy, but.

• 47:55Josh Clark?

  And the AI was like, man, I thought that was a sale.

• 47:59Speaker 03

  Uh, I do want to circle back though, to that lawsuit, the class action lawsuit. The judge eventually, a federal judge dismissed it and said, no reasonable consumer would see the entire product label reading the words frosted strawberry Pop-Tarts next to a picture of a toaster pastry coated in frosting and reasonably expect that fresh strawberries would be the sole ingredient in the product.

• 48:20Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 48:21Speaker 03

  In other words, everyone knows what a Pop-Tart is, dummy. Go home.

• 48:24Josh Clark?

  Exactly.

• 48:25Speaker 03

  You don't eat it because it's healthy.

• 48:27Josh Clark?

  I had forgotten that you hadn't wrapped that story up.

• 48:30Speaker 03

  Oh, that's all right.

• 48:30Josh Clark?

  Quite a boondoggle in the middle there.

• 48:33Speaker 03

  So because of the, you know, food dyes and things like that, you're not going to get like a regular American pop tart in other countries. A lot of countries in Europe don't even have pop tarts at all. But they do have different versions that are a little better, probably. And I know the UK doesn't have high fructose corn syrup in their Frosted Strawberry Sensation Pop Tart. Or red forty, yellow six, and blue one dyes. They instead use paprika, beetroot, and extract from the Anado tree to color their pop tarts.

• 49:05Josh Clark?

  Yeah, which is an orange-ready color, I've read.

• 49:08Speaker 03

  Yeah, I wonder how that affects the flavor, paprika?

• 49:10Josh Clark?

  But it's also, I mean, like, when you hear about this, like, the EU or the UK having these standards that are just, that makes American standard substandard as far as health goes. It's just so frustrating that nobody's looking out for American consumers like they do in the EU and UK, you know?

• 49:28Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 49:29Josh Clark?

  Like, use beetroot, jerk.

• 49:32Speaker 03

  Agree. Should we go through a couple of these cultural touchstones?

• 49:37Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 49:38Speaker 03

  I'll mention the movie, the Netflix movie last year, Unfrosted, which was at least directed and starred. I don't know if Jerry Seinfeld helped write it.

• 49:47Josh Clark?

  Yes, he did, and conceived of it, too.

• 49:49Speaker 03

  Yeah, it was, it was a bad.

• 49:51Josh Clark?

  So bad.

• 49:52Speaker 03

  It was a bad movie.

• 49:54Josh Clark?

  It was so boring.

• 49:57Speaker 03

  I didn't watch it. I watched a little bit of it and realized that it was flaming garbage.

• 50:02Josh Clark?

  Exactly the same for me. I think I made it 10 minutes in.

• 50:05Speaker 03

  Yeah, it's really bad. It got a couple of razzies. Amy Schumer was in it, like, really quality people. It's just, it was just a bad movie. Sometimes it happens.

• 50:12Josh Clark?

  Yeah. And it did happen with that one.

• 50:16Speaker 03

  What else?

• 50:16Josh Clark?

  You can make your own pop tarts at home. I've actually done this. I made an apple cinnamon giant pop tart. It turned out okay. I think the trick is the crust always seems too highfalutin, so you're not really recreating the pop tart very well.

• 50:31Speaker 03

  No. Yeah, but that's kind of the, like, I had one in a fancy restaurant one, once. They had it on the dessert. They called it their pop tart. And it was, it was astounding, but it wasn't a pop tart.

• 50:40Josh Clark?

  Exactly. It has to have a certain.

• 50:43Speaker 03

  Yeah. Trashy quality.

• 50:45Josh Clark?

  Exactly. It does, and it's missing that when you make it at home.

• 50:49Speaker 03

  In 2021, when we were bombing Afghanistan, we started dropping food, including Pop-Tarts, that the military, the US military, said was supposed to be an icebreaker for those people, for the Afghan people. And then they also got criticized because they were like, hey, we're dropping food for these people to subsist on. Let's not drop garbage food as an icebreaker.

• 51:13Josh Clark?

  Right. They're like, can't Pop-Tarts really help with weight loss?

• 51:19Josh Clark?

  They've also made several appearances on The Simpsons, most famously when Homer's trying to gain weight so he can get on disability and not have to work.

• 51:29Speaker 03

  I remember that.

• 51:30Josh Clark?

  He has, he consults with Dr. Nick, who tells him how to gain weight. And one of the things he says is, instead of using bread, make a sandwich with two Pop-Tarts.

• 51:42Speaker 03

  I bet that's so good. Like a PB and J between two Pop-Tarts?

• 51:45Josh Clark?

  Oh, yeah. I could see that. Well, there's PB and J Pop-Tarts, or there used to be, and those were pretty good.

• 51:50Speaker 03

  Yeah. I mean, they've had lots of wacky flavors. I know you looked up a bunch of those. Any of them stand out?

• 51:56Josh Clark?

  Oh, God, I don't have it in front of me. There were, there were a few that, the ones that stand out to me, I wouldn't like. Like, they have a whole ice cream shop, like sub-brand, where it's like chocolate vanilla milkshake or something like that. It doesn't sound very good.

• 52:13Speaker 03

  Nah.

• 52:14Josh Clark?

  There's like a co-branded orange crush one, A&W root beer. There are a couple that I've tried that sounded good that I didn't really like, like Sugar Cookie, which is a seasonal one in the winter. It wasn't as good as you'd think.

• 52:27Speaker 03

  What was the filling?

• 52:29Josh Clark?

  It was like a chemically sugar cookie pasty dough.

• 52:35Speaker 03

  Oh, okay.

• 52:36Josh Clark?

  It just should have been better than it was. But there's a gingerbread one I haven't tried, and I would like to try that one. But I think ultimately, for me, you just go back to like, some of the originals. They're, they're just time-tested, and they're so, so good. Like cherry, or blueberry, or strawberry, or of course, brown sugar cinnamon.

• 52:54Speaker 03

  Agreed. It just hit me. They should partner up with Biscoff, because they make that Biscoff butter. I bet that would be pretty good.

• 53:02Josh Clark?

  I'm really surprised they haven't.

• 53:04Speaker 03

  And a couple of these, we have some stats at the end, and a couple of these stood out to me.

• 53:11Speaker 03

  I think that was a 2024 household panel survey.

• 53:14Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 53:16Speaker 03

  The ones that stand out to me are the reasons for people buying Pop-Tarts here these days. Fifty-six percent said convenience. And 30% said it brings back childhood memories.

• 53:28Josh Clark?

  Ostensibly good memories.

• 53:30Speaker 03

  Yeah, of course. And then the other one that stood out was 72% of Pop-Tart buyers said they ate them themselves. And these were adults, and 54% said other adults in the house would eat them. And only 25% said they were for their kids. So it seems like Gen X is buying and eating these Pop-Tarts.

• 53:51Josh Clark?

  Yeah, themselves. They're keeping them for themselves.

• 53:54Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 53:54Josh Clark?

  One that stood out to me is 44% of Americans surveyed said they eat them at least once a week. And 9% eat them every day.

• 54:03Speaker 03

  That's a lot.

• 54:04Josh Clark?

  That is a lot. The other thing that was really surprising is 12% of people put them in the refrigerator or freezer and then eat them cold.

• 54:14Josh Clark?

  I've never even heard that. That sounds like madness. And then one of the other things, Chuck, did you see the thing about the mystery Pop-Tart?

• 54:22Speaker 03

  No.

• 54:23Josh Clark?

  So they came up-

• 54:23Speaker 03

  Mr. T?

• 54:24Josh Clark?

  Close. Replace the T with the E. Get rid of all the gold in the mohawk. Replace it with a Pop-Tart that has a mustache and sunglasses and a hat, like a mystery person. And you've got the mystery Pop-Tarts. There was a campaign they ran in 2021. And it was like the full shebang. Like, there's a QR code and you can go online and guess what the mystery flavor was. It was roundly hated. It, like, found disgusting. Someone guessed it was Cheez-Its. Someone guessed it was a Swiss cheese Pop-Tart. Someone guessed garlic and onion. It turned out it was an everything bagel Pop-Tart. And everyone said, "We hate that. Get it off of our shelves."

• 55:03Speaker 03

  Ah, I do love everything bagel, almost everything, but I could see where that might not- Because I even liked that Jenny's everything bagel ice cream, I thought was so good.

• 55:13Josh Clark?

  Oh, I didn't try that.

• 55:14Speaker 03

  A lot of people hated it. I loved it.

• 55:17Josh Clark?

  To me, I'd be like, no, I'm not going to waste my time with anything but gooey butter cake or the almond crisp one.

• 55:25Speaker 03

  Oh, as far as the Janies goes?

• 55:26Josh Clark?

  Yeah, so good.

• 55:28Speaker 03

  Yeah, agreed.

• 55:29Josh Clark?

  Uh, you got anything else?

• 55:31Speaker 03

  No, I think I gained a few pounds just during this episode.

• 55:34Josh Clark?

  Yeah, I can't decide if I'm gonna run out and buy some more or just, you know, leave it be.

• 55:39Speaker 03

  I'm gonna buy some.

• 55:40Josh Clark?

  Well, let me know. I'll live vicariously through you, okay?

• 55:43Speaker 03

  You know what I'll do, bud? I'll get, uh, I'll have to get the cinnamon brown sugar just because I can't not.

• 55:47Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 55:48Speaker 03

  And, uh, I'll only get one other box and I'll get that frosted cherry.

• 55:52Josh Clark?

  Great.

• 55:53Speaker 03

  I'll let you know.

• 55:53Josh Clark?

  Okay. Well, while you're doing that, Chuck, how about some listener mail action?

• 56:01Speaker 03

  Yeah, this is about another MTV follow-up about the show, their game show, Remote Control. Hey, guys, when I was a sophomore in high school in 1990, we had to do a project in world history about Mesopotamia. So my friends and I made our own remote control game show with quiz questions about the subject. We had a little brother be, um, our videographer and had bowls of cereal fall on our head as if we missed the question. We had so much fun creating it. We're so proud of it. All the kids knew what it was, but I think Mr. Hall was a bit confused as to what was happening. But we got an A. Woo-hoo. Thanks for the great episode and for the amazingness that you put out into the world. I adore the show and your friendship. That is a big fan from O-H-I-O. Go Buckeyes, Michelle.

• 56:45Josh Clark?

  Nice, Michelle. Thank you for that one. That was a So-Hio story, if I've ever heard one.

• 56:51Speaker 03

  Agreed.

• 56:51Josh Clark?

  Uh, if you want to be like Michelle and tell us about something sweet from your childhood that we made you think of again, we love that kind of thing. You can wrap it up, spank it on the bottom with a pop tart, and send it off to [email protected].

• 57:08Speaker 00

  Stuff You Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts, iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

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