Pop Tarts: No Fruit Necessary | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a. production of iHeart Radio. 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. >> Oh, man. My grandmother wouldn't have. there wouldn't have been a Pop-Tart. anywhere near her house. >> Oh, no. She was like that, huh? >> Well, one of them. My my one more uh I. mean one was sort of the modern.

grandmother, my mom's mom. >> They had like TV and stuff like that and. uh a VCR. Uh but 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, >> right? She's like, "If I didn't can it, you're not going to eat it.". >> Yeah. She just kind of had the big uh. big jar of grease on the stove that like. she never bought oil in her life. She. just kept reusing the same stuff. >> Man, I'll bet that tasted good, though.

>> Yeah, Granny Bryant the best. >> Well, that's funny. You said that one of. your your other grandmother um your. mom's mom was modern. >> Yeah, >> 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. Mhm. >> Uh usually pointed to a secondwave. feminism where women began to. essentially say like this this whole. traditional housewife thing is uh. 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 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. >> That's right. Uh and I feel like this is. one where we assume everyone knows what. a Pop-Tart is. >> Oh yeah. >> And we get punished for that uh in. emails. So, a Pop-Tart is a um 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. Uh but is it is a a. toaster pastry. It's a little sort of. fruit filled um faux pastry that you. stick in your toaster or not. Uh and. toast it up or not. Uh, and it came. about and we're going to, you know, we. need to thank Livia, but we definitely. want to thank um Diana Stampler. >> uh for the website Promote Michigan. because as Livia found, as I found, um, when it comes to Pop-Tart origin. stories, uh, Diana Stampler's is the.

bomb diggity. >> She did her homework. >> Yeah, she had a lot of great detail that. other places didn't have. So, big thanks. to that website. Um, but Pop-Tarts came. out in the 1960s and we're going to have. to retell a little bit of our live. episode about the Kellogg um serial. corporation and the Kellogg brothers. because that's where this story starts. So, we'll give you kind of a a quick. little overview, right? >> Yeah, that was our live episode from. Sydney. It was good. >> Yeah. So, the Kellogg brothers, William.

Keith or Will Keith and John Harvey. Kellogg, they ran the Battle Creek. Sanitarium, uh, which essentially was a. a health spa, health resort dedicated. to, um, getting you to poop with precise. perfectness, right? >> Yeah. And other things. >> 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 um one of their guests, one of their patients coming along. And. his name was CW Post. >> That's right. Uh he loved those corn. flakes and uh spent a little time there. and said, "You know what? I'm going to. start making my own cereal.". >> Um 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. >> Right. >> But uh like individual jokes even. >> Lay it on me, buddy.

>> Oh, just made me think of uh the the. Elton John album title was that uh but I. can't remember the name of the machine. The electric bath something. >> That's true. >> It sounded like an Elton John. >> electric light bath. >> Electric light bath. Was that? >> Yes, I remember that. It was like one of. those oneperson. um steam rooms where your head stuck out. but it was lights. >> Exactly. >> Yeah. >> 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 uh like legitwise and. established their Battle Creek Toasted. Cornflake Company. Yeah. So, they're. like, "We're going to sell these things. outside of the sanitarium." And now Post. and Kelloggs were direct competitors. Yeah. In this new emerging cereal market. that that those two companies created. out of thin air. Um, by the time the 60s.

rolled 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. boore right out of the gate. >> Yeah. >> I mean, with Sugar Crisp, I think they. call it Golden Crisp now because you. like a mob with um torches and. pitchforks would come after you if you. called your cereal Sugar Crisp. >> Yeah. >> 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 Kelloggs 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 uh. by second-wave feminism, getting women. out of the house and into the workplace. So that they were like, "We need to come.

up with convenience foods that are even. more convenient than cereal.". >> Yeah. Than pouring something out of a. box and adding milk. >> Mhm. And then reading the back of the. box. >> or water in the case of uh was that. Fridays? >> You better put some water in that damn. I love that one. >> So classic. Uh, 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. And.

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 uh dehydrating or or. partially dehydrating stuff. And they. said, "All right, we're making these. Gainsburg burgers. this this dog. crumbly, you know, looks like a a meat. burger for your dog that's wrapped in. foil that you break apart. >> Do you remember those? >> Oh, yeah. >> Yeah, >> they're still around, right? Or did they. go away? >> They went away in the '9s, I read. >> Oh, interesting.

>> Yeah, >> I definitely remember Gainesburgers. Um. cuz I always remember thinking like. those are the luckiest dogs in the. world. >> Do you? Yeah, it was it like like. >> my family would never buy that stuff. >> 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. >> Oh, no. >> a rat. >> Yeah. So, they were 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. Uh, and they said, "All right, we've. invented a pastry filled with fruit, uh,

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." Yeah. >> And toasters on the 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 uh food that. you're going to want on your breakfast. table. >> Yeah. Yeah. And it took me a little. while, but I wondered if Country Squares. was a play on Country Squire. >> What's Country Squire? >> Uh, it was a land owner, a rural land. owner in medieval England. >> H I doubt it, but you never know. >> Okay. They call them country squares. Let's just leave it at that. Okay, Josh. Fine. >> But this was Post. This wasn't Kelloggs. who ended up making the Pop-Tart. This. was Post who was breaking new ground.

with these little handheld toaster. heated pastries. Right. >> That's right. >> Problem was the I don't know if the. Battle Creek Enquirer 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 Enquirer. >> But Post was not ready to go to market. with these things. They had a recipe, but they didn't know how they were going. to 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. higherups 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 offguard by. this. Yeah. >> 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. >> Yeah. the I think the vice president of. Kellogg says what is this country. squares and someone said it's a rural. land owner in England right uh no the.

the there was a vice president though. named William Lamoth uh 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 um because. they you know again they were just. serial people so. >> well plus everybody likes to have a. partner. Yeah, exactly. Uh so they went to the. Hecman Biscuit Company um which was. conveniently also in Michigan. Uh they.

had been around selling Dutch cookies. since the beginning of the late 19th. century uh doortodoor. And by the 1960s. when this is happening, their division. of the United Bis uh biscuit company of. America would which would eventually. become Keebler in ' 66. >> right there in Grand Rapids. They had a. a great modern uh uh industrial bakery. and it was a really sort of a great. partnership out of the gate. >> Grand Rapids, by the way, just a little. personal aside, is where I learned that. I actually love frog legs.

>> Oh, really? >> Yeah. There was this dinner theater in. Grand Rapids that my family used to go. to when I was growing up in Toledo. And. um the frog leg. >> 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 8, nine, 10, I would eat some. frog legs. >> I don't know where it was, buddy, but I. tried frog legs on a buffet in the 1970s. or early 80s as well.

>> Yeah. And I thought, hey, this tastes. like chicken. >> kind of. It's the weird skin that really. throws it off, though. >> Uh, these were fried, so I don't. remember the skin. And this is a very. distant memory, so but I'm I'm with you. I I couldn't eat a frog. Now, >> these were not fried. These were like. braised. >> No, mine were fried. >> So, back to um Thanks for indulging me. in. >> Sure. >> So, back to the Hecman Bis Biscuit. Company. Um at the time, they were. making stuff like macaroons, butter. cookies, vanilla wafers, windmills,

ginger snaps, all your favorite like. oldtimey 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 to go to them. Apparently, the. Hecman company uh wasn't fully on board. with this, but there was a guy named. William Post, no relation to the Post. serial company, >> who um was in this in did work for. Hecman at their Grand Rapids um factory,

and he's like, I'll do this. I'll take. this project on. >> Yeah. And it wasn't an official thing. I. think it was a handshake agreement at. first. uh they started, you know, testing out versions, uh giving them to. their kids to try, of course, which is. sort of the usual story when food. science is involved. And uh Dan, I think. the son of William Post, again, supposedly no relation. Uh quite a. coincidence though, don't you think? >> It is quite a Yeah, almost suspicious. >> 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 the dough for the. you know, and and kind of solved that. problem out of the gate. >> Well, yeah, that's why there's little. holes in Pop-Tarts still today. >> That's right. Because they will explode.

>> It's true. >> Fruit expands, I guess, or fruit like. stuff. Uh, and they initially set on, uh, as Daniel D. Lewis would say, fruit. scon. Uh, 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, uh, to provide their. fruit filling. And then, >> oh, baby, the fourth one, the all-time.

great, brown sugar cinnamon. >> Yep. That's the best one. hands down. >> Oh, you too, huh? >> Oh, yes. >> Okay, great. What a relief. >> Yeah, some uh Liptin blackberry tea and. um brown sugar cinnamon pop-tarts in the. evening was just a great way to wind. down after a long day in third grade. >> So, what is that garbage Jerry said. before we recorded? >> She talked about her grandmother um. making that part. >> making a blueberry, I believe, blueberry. pop-tarts that were unfrosted and.

buttering them. >> Okay. Well, that I was going to 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. >> Mhm. >> 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. >> Okay. >> 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 nonfrosted 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 a. problem. It's buttery. It's delicious. I. highly recommend it. >> 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.

>> Oh. who mentioned it, I guess, when she. was pregnant, she was craving buttered. pop-tarts, and I hadn't heard of it. until then. >> It's the finishing touch. It's the. cherry on top. It It really uh It really. finishes it off nicely. >> So, you do that with the brown sugar. cinnamon version, >> dude. Every version, but that's the only. version I'll eat. And I got to say, I. don't I don't eat Pop-Tarts anymore. Like, I can't remember the last Pop-Tart. I had. Mhm. >> 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.". >> Right. I So I love brown sugar cinnamon. since we're talking about personal. preferences. But for the fruit ones, >> um I used to be all strawberry as a kid. >> and it was just cuz I never ventured. out. Um and once I grew up a little more. and my tastes really started to develop, >> I found that cherry is actually the top. fruit. >> Oh. did not know that until I don't. know, maybe 10 years ago. >> Okay, I'll have to I mean, this is I'm. going to buy some Pop-Tarts just to try.

some of these again. >> Try cherry. >> All right, I'll try cherry. Oh, they're. frosted. I take it. >> Yes. I mean, I don't even know why they. make them unfrosted. That's crazy. >> 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. >> Yeah. And your grandma canned them. >> Uh, but did that does the cherry have. sprinkles? cuz I don't love the. sprinkles, >> but it's just sort of part of the. frosting, so it doesn't stand out too. much. >> Cherry has everything you want. Not only. does it have sprinkles, Chuck, >> it has like sugar crystals.

>> Oh, >> yes, dude. You're going to love cherry. Believe me, I expect a text later on. with you thanking me for recommending. cherry pop-tarts. >> Yeah, Ruby's never had a Pop-Tart, so. we're gonna we're gonna. >> Good one to start on. >> All right, so uh Well, I guess we should. probably take a break. Yeah, we just we. kind of got off course here. >> 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.

learn. >> Okay, Chuck. So, those original fruit. scones, the the prototype, the Pop-Tart, I guess you'd call it if you're a. weirdo, >> um, they were not exactly what you'd. recognize as Pop-Tarts today. I think if. you put them next to a Pop-Tart, you you. it wouldn't be like, you know, 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. >> Yeah. Like you would have like a grilled. cheese sandwich kind of cut like that. >> Yeah. And there none of these first ones. were frosted either, we should point. out. >> 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 um that. was part of the initial roll out was um. they're packaged together, two per. package. >> Mhm. Um, and the reason why was just. simply cost cutting. Like if they had. individually packaged each Pop-Tart, >> um, it would have cost him a lot more. But it also makes me wonder how many. people over the last like 60some years. would have only eaten one Pop-Tart if. they were individually wrapped. Because.

you open that, you open the package, you. got one, what are you going to 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. >> Yeah. I was a little disappointed to. know it was a cost cutting measure cuz I. was just like. >> I thought someone, you know, Mr. Post. decreed from on high they shall be eaten. two at a time. Well, that's the actually. the serving size if you read the back of. the box, which is nuts because you could.

if it were just individually wrapped, you could say one Pop-Tart is a serving. and people would be used to that. >> Yeah, true. Uh those first Pop-Tarts, too. Um they were a little more rounded. on the uh corners, >> not quite as squared off, >> unrecognizable. >> 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 are made to make the food. look beautiful, but it looks way more.

like a pie than what they have out. today, you know? >> Yeah. Like the edges are way more like a. pie crust. >> Yeah. It looks kind of crimped or. whatever. >> Yeah. >> So, um 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 um. Henkles, they had like a a ready for. market pop-tart developed. >> Yeah. Or brute scone. They changed the. name, I think, um pretty quickly. >> uh to Pop-Tarts, which I never knew.

this. This was a play on. >> uh Pop Art, which was a big thing at the. time with, you know, Andy Warhol and his. factory. >> And I I had I had no idea that it was. just sort of a little clever nod to. that. >> I didn't either. I didn't realize. Pop-Tarts were quite so cool. >> Agreed. Um, so the trademark for the. brand was filed on June 20th, 1964. They started shipping out the first. cases on September 14th, and they chose. Cleveland as their test market. And. Cleveland went bonkers for these things.

Um, I saw in the first two weeks they. sold 10 million boxes of Pop-Tarts. >> Oh my god. >> By December 30th, so just a couple. months. >> Wait, 10 million boxes? >> 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 hot cakes, but more like hotcake. flavored Pop-Tarts. >> Yeah. And so if you're wondering like. what about Post who sort of invented. this? Uh 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 land. owners, right? >> So they rebranded them to Toastm Fruit. Filups. Sold that off in 1971 to Schultz and.

Birch Biscuit Company. Uh they still. make those. I think they're still the. same name even. >> To. >> Yeah. Yeah. And there there have 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. Uh, Nabiscoco had one. called Toastets, uh, that they finally. stopped selling in 2002. Uh, Pillsbury, I will say the toaster strudel when it. came out in 1985 was a pretty big hot. item, I remember. >> Yeah. Because it was a unfrosted.

Pop-Tart. much more pastry, like flaky. pastry than than a Pop-Tart is. But the. key was the gimmick was that came with. frosting separated. So, you put frosting. on it. >> and I was also squeeze it into your. mouth at the end. >> Exactly. Yes. And I was crazy for these. things and I guess I got a bad batch or. something once and I got sick off of it. and now just seeing those two words. together makes my stomach turn. >> No way. >> Yes. I would I couldn't eat I couldn't.

be in the same room as a toaster strudel. again. >> That was like me with a beef jerky for a. solid 10 years. >> You poor bastard. >> I know. Uh all right. So they keep. developing these things. Um the very. first ones was just the pastry and the. filling. They added that frosting in. 1967. Uh like you said, once they came up with. one that wouldn't slide off and and kill. your house basically, >> right? Uh the first frosted ones were. Dutch apple, Concord grape. Boy, that. sounds good. >> Uh 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, uh and just trying new. things. >> Yeah. So, just to kind of put this into. perspective, um 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 um 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. >> Wow. >> And that in 2022 they sold 3 billion. Pop-Tarts. >> boxes or individual tarts. >> 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. >> Yeah. I mean, once you get into those. kind of numbers, you're kind of. splitting hairs, you know. >> Yeah, it's true, man. Thanks for saying. that cuz I was feeling pretty down about. myself for a second. >> No, no, no, no. You're great. So, uh, in. 1968, one of the little side products. they made was called, uh, and this is. Kellogg's called the Danish Goround, they were trying to make it look more. like a Danish, like a real Danish, uh, because at like little ladies, um, garden parties and stuff, uh, it's like,

why make a Danish when you can just buy. these, right? 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. >> Yeah. Which is kind of sad cuz Danishes. are great. >> Yeah. The cheese Danish. >> Yes. I think that's probably my. favorite, too. >> Yeah. >> Um 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, >> which is a bad idea. >> It was a pizza version of Pop-Tarts. And.

they put in the same box and everything. Um, the problem was that there was not. enough sauce and too much dough. Not. anything else was 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. >> 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? >> Sure. >> Oh, you have? Yeah. >> Like a hand pie iron, right? >> Yeah. You like, you know, you take uh. 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 a. campfire. And that's thick enough to. where you can actually have enough. stuff, but a Pop-Tart's just not thick. enough. >> Well, plus also now today, if you came. out with that, everybody' say, "This. isn't like a hot pocket, so. >> what's the point?".

>> Yeah. Yeah. Good point. You know, but. I'll bet it burns your tongue like a hot. pocket if you ate it too soon. Or a a. Gino's pizza roll. Is there anything. that can burn a tongue worse than a. Gino's pizza roll? Cuz you just you eat. them too soon. You can't wait around for. them to cool off in a. >> Yeah, that's a garbage food that I. wasn't allowed to have much and we don't. have at our house, but at uh at Ruby's. uh 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.

>> What' you think? >> They're not great, but the kids loved. them. >> Oh, I haven't had one in a while. I have. to go back and revisit it or else maybe. I'll just not. you have a more sophisticated pallet. now. I would I would uh just lean on. nostalgia and what a great memory you. have. >> Okay, thank you for that. >> Uh I don't think we need to go all. through all these other things. I mean, they made Pop-Tart bites, little crisps, uh and all sorts of little side products. that kind of came and went. Uh like all. products do. They try to spin things off.

and it usually doesn't work out. >> No. And don't forget Pop-Tart cereal. That kind of made a splash for a minute. >> I didn't try that. I hadn't heard of. that. What? Did you have that? What's. weird is I remember eating it as a. younger person. Um, 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. >> Right. It was just like seven years ago. >> Yeah. Exactly. >> When you were a child. >> Right. >> So what essentially what Pop Stars. 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. >> Yeah. Well, it helped that no one called. us after a while, >> right? >> Well, the opportunities dried up. You. know, >> I took it as, you know, we just want to. hear you podcast. >> No, I'm with you. uh marketing wise, you.

know, we did a episode recently on uh. Saturday morning cartoons and a lot of. it uh to some listeners disappointment. as it turns out. >> was about uh uh marketing to children. like sugar cereals and things like that. during Saturday morning cartoons. And. Pop-Tarts was. >> uh I mean definitely one of the I was. about to say worst offenders or but. maybe I should just say one of the best. at it. Um 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. >> Yeah, we'll get to that in a second. >> What? Right. Right out of the foil. >> Yeah. Do you have Do you do that? >> I have only done that in a pinch. I I. used to throw these in the backpack for. camping trips when I was young before. they had a ton of like uh granola bars. and stuff. Sure. >> Like now there's so much of that, but. back then I just threw some Pop-Tarts in. the backpack and I would eat them out of. the package. But it it's not great. >> It can be done, but no, it's not great.

>> Which what I do then is is I I I tear. off the edges so I just have the frosted. center. >> Oh, yeah. And you leave the the edges to. nature. >> That's right. >> To the wolves tracking you. >> Exactly. Uh they did come up with a a. mascot for a very short time, which is. weird because this is exactly the kind. of brand that would have a mascot, right? >> Yeah. >> Um but they ditched Milton the Toaster. pretty quickly when they debuted them in. 1971. But they continued on like you. said, advertising like anytime 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. >> 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. >> Yeah. >> 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 in Pop-Tarts. >> 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, my.

feet can't stop. Pop pop pop Kellogg's. Poptarts. >> I don't remember that one. >> There was also um well, I made made that. up too when I was eating Pop-Tart cereal. in 2018. There was also a campaign called Soh Hot. They're Cool and another one called. Snacula. So, if you're a millennial or. Gen Xer, 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. >> Interesting. Uh well, they took over the. Citrus Bowl, uh the college football. game played in Orlando a couple years. ago. It's now the Pop-Tarts Bowl and I. think it'll be in its third year on the. next one. >> Uh, and they have, you know, these. interesting tie-ins where they have uh. three different mascots and the MVP of. the game uh picks the mascot. Uh, so, you know, they're tying in stuff like.

that. They say it's kind of fun. I think. they um they like to to tout their uh. just sort of out of the box thinking as. far as marketing goes. Um, and we should. also say they spun that um, 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 Gatka. It's called Kelanova. >> It is kind of unsettling for some. reason, >> but that 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 uh. for $60. They called it the party. pastry. Just a giant. >> That's a really good price. >> I thought so, too. It seems like a real. value. >> I mean, I saw this a picture of this. thing on a kitchen table and it that's. cheaper than a a a decent birthday cake. >> Yeah. I mean, let's say you have uh.

eight eight pack of Pop-Tarts. Well, they're sold in sixes though, right? >> 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. No 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 size shapes and.

then pack them away in the freezer, you. can't do that anymore. Oh, I bet that. centerpiece is so good. >> Uh, yeah, I'll bet it is, too. >> Have we taken a second break? >> I don't think so, man. I think we should. now. >> All right, we'll take a second break and. talk about uh everybody's favorite. topic, health and safety, right after. this.

Learning stuff with Joshua and Charles. you should No. >> All right. So, uh, we kind of made a.

joke earlier about the frosting sliding. off and burning your kitchen down. Uh, I. don't 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. Uh in. 1993, it came a little more to the. forefront of pop culture uh when uh. syndicated humor columnist Dave Barry uh. 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 3 feet high. And supposedly Dave Barry recreated this. outdoors uh as part of his humor column. 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, >> right? >> 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-Tarts in big. trouble. They got 18inch high flames in. 4 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 blowtorrch 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. >> Yeah. And I think those um 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 that filling packed in that. pastry just retains a lot of heat, >> right? >> And it just Yeah, it's a pretty volatile. can be a pretty volatile situation. I. think uh the Philly Inquirer in 2001 uh. reported that the US customer product. safety commission had 17 reports of. Pop-Tart fires and eventually of course.

there would be a lawsuit. Uh, in 1995, um, Pop-Tart settled, uh, the. plaintiff's attorney apparently. threatened, I don't know if it was inest. or not, to call in Dave Barry to go to. trial. >> And Pop-Tart said, "We'll give you two. grand." And they said, "2500.". >> And Pop-Tart said, "2400." And they. said, "Deal, >> deal. >> 24,400 bucks, >> right?" I guess. And then the attorney. took like 2,000 of that. >> Yeah, probably. 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. >> Yeah. >> 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. >> Yeah. because the amount of fruit in it. is so poulry that they don't even have. the right to say that on their box. anymore. Um, and the reason why is.

because so serving size is two of say. frosted strawberry pop-tarts, 370. calories, 31 gram of sugar, 8 gram of. fat. But here's the healthy part. One. gram of fiber, and four grams of. protein, which can only be explained as. accidental. >> Yeah. a byproduct. I wonder if on the. nutritional thing, it also accounts for. added butter, >> right? With butter, a million calories.

>> Uh yeah, you mentioned um the the fruit. content. I think in 2021 there were four. plaintiffs that filed a $5 million 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. So. there is a a a quantification of that. The whole grain. frosted strawberry Pop-Tart contains. less than 2% each of dried pear, apple, and strawberry. And the strawberry.

pop-tart is 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. >> Right. So they're not healthy. >> No. 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?". >> 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.". But it it it um kind of underscores this. trend that I've noticed just in the last. couple months, Chuck, of just a slew of. longtail um which means like really. really specific articles clearly written. by AI. >> Oh, >> 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. And we humans. have just been pushed to the side and. given articles with the click-baity. titles. Can Pop-Tarts really help with. weight loss? >> 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." He's like, "This isn't a a real. person." And she tried to look up the. author. It didn't exist. >> Wow. >> Yeah. Obviously returned it and was, you. know, not too happy. But, um, >> the AI was like, "Man, I thought that. was a sale.". >> Uh, I do want to circle back though to. that lawsuit, uh, the class action. lawsuit. Um 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. >> Right. >> In other words, everyone knows what a. Pop-Tart is. Dummy, go home. >> Exactly. >> You don't eat it because it's healthy. >> I had forgotten that you hadn't wrapped. that story up. >> Oh, that's right. >> Quite a boondoggle in the middle there. So, uh, 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, uh, have. Pop-Tarts at all, but they do have. different versions that are a little. better, probably. Uh, and I know the UK. doesn't have high fructose corn syrup in. their frosted strawberry sensation. Pop-Tart, >> uh, or red 40, yellow, six, and blue one. dyes. Uh they instead use paprika, beetroot, and extract from the anado. tree to color their Pop-Tarts. >> Yeah. Which is a orange readyy color, I've read. >> Yeah. I wonder how that affects the. flavor of paprika. >> 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 standards 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. Yeah, >> like use beetroot jerk. >> Agree. Uh should we go through a couple. of these cultural uh touchstones? >> Yeah. >> Uh I'll mention the the movie um the. Netflix movie last year, Unfrosted,

which was at least directed and starred. I don't know if Jerry Seinfeld helped. helped write it. >> Yes, he did. And conceive of it, too. >> Yeah, it was it was a bad. >> so bad. >> It was a bad movie. >> It was so boring. I didn't watch it. I watched a little. bit of it and realized that it was uh. flaming garbage. >> Exactly the same for me. I think I made. it 10 minutes in. >> Yeah, it's really bad. It got a couple. of razies. Um Amy Schumer was in it. Like really quality people. It was just.

It was just a bad movie. Sometimes it. happens. >> Yeah. And it did happen with that one. >> What else? >> Uh you can make your own Pop-Tarts at. home. I've actually done this. I made an. apple cinnamon giant Pop-Tart. >> Uh it turned out okay. I think the trick. is the crust always seems too high. fallutin so you're not really recreating. the pop-tart very well. >> 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. >> Exactly. It has to have a certain.

>> Yeah. >> Um. >> trashy quality. >> Exactly. It does. And it's missing that. when you make it at home. uh in 2021 when we were bombing. Afghanistan, we started dropping food. including Pop-Tarts that uh the. military, the US military said was. supposed to be an icebreaker for those. people, >> right, >> for the Afghan people. Um 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, >> right?" They're like, "Can't Pop-Tarts. really help with weight loss?". Um they've also made several appearances. on the Simpsons, most famously when um. Homer's trying to gain weight so he can. get on disability and not have to work. >> I remember that. >> 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.

>> I bet that's so good. Like a PB&J. between two Pop-Tarts. >> Oh yeah, I can see that. Well, there's. PB&J Pop-Tarts, or there used to be, and. those were pretty good. >> Yeah. I mean, they've had lots of wacky. flavors. I know you looked up a bunch of. those. Any of them stand out? >> Oh, god. I don't have it in front of me. Um, no. There were there were a few that. um the ones that stand out to me, I I. wouldn't like they have a whole ice. cream shop like subbrand where it's like. chocolate vanilla milkshake or something. like that. It doesn't sound very good.

>> No. Um, there's like a 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. >> What was the filling? >> It was like a. a chemically sugar cookie pasty dough. >> Oh, okay. >> It just should have been better than it. was. But there's a gingerbread one I. haven't tried and 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-t. tested and they're so so good. Like. cherry or blueberry or strawberry or of. course brown sugar cinnamon. >> Agreed. Uh it just hit me. They should. partner up with uh Biskoff because they. make that Biscoff butter. >> I bet that would be pretty good. >> I'm really surprised they haven't. >> Uh and a couple of these we have some. stats at the end and a couple of these. stood out to me. Um, I think there was a.

2024 household panel survey. >> Yeah. >> Uh, the ones that stand out to me are. the reasons for people buying Pop-Tarts. here these days. >> Uh, 56% said convenience. >> And 30% said it brings back childhood. memories, >> ostensibly good memories. >> Yeah, of course. And then the other one. that stood out was um 72%. of Pop-Tart buyers said they ate them. themselves. And uh 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. >> Yeah. Themselves. They're keeping them. for themselves. >> Yeah. >> 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. >> That's a lot. >> That is a lot. Uh, the other thing that. was really surprising is 12% of people. put them in the refrigerator or freezer.

and then eat them cold. >> Yeah. >> I've never even heard of that. That. sounds like madness. And then, uh, one. of the other things, Chuck, did you see. the thing about the mystery Pop-Tart? >> No. >> So, they came up with. >> Mr. T. >> Close. Replace the T with an E. Get rid. of all the gold in the mohawk. Replace. it with a Pop-Tart that has a mustache. and and sunglasses and a hat like a. mystery person. And you've got the. mystery Pop-Tarts. It 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. Cheezits. 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.". Ah, I do love everything bagel. Almost. everything, but I I could see where that. might not because I even like that uh. Jenny's everything bagel ice cream I.

thought was so good. >> Oh, I didn't try that. >> A lot of people hated it. I loved it. >> To me, I'd be like, "No, I'm I'm not. going to waste my time with anything but. gooey butter cake or the almond crisp. one.". >> Oh, as far as the jenny's goes. >> Yeah. So good. >> Yeah, agreed. >> Uh, you got anything else? No, I think I. gained a few pounds just doing this. episode. >> Yeah, I I can't decide if I'm going to. run out and buy some more or just, you. know, leave it be. >> I'm going to buy some. >> Well, let me know. I'll live vicariously.

through you. Okay. >> You know what I'll do, bud? I'll get uh. I'll have to get the cinnamon brown. sugar just cuz I can't not. >> Right. >> And uh I'll only get one other box and. I'll get that frosted cherry. >> Great. >> I'll let you know. >> Okay. Uh well, while you're doing that, Chuck, how about some listener mail. action? Yeah, this is about uh 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. Uh we had a little brother be um our. videographer and had bowls of cereal. fall on our head as if we missed the. question. Um 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. Woohoo. 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 Oh, h.

I O. Go Buckeyes, Michelle. >> Nice, Michelle. Thank you for that one. Um, that was a soio story if I've ever. heard one. >> Agreed. 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 stuffodcast@ iheartradio.com. Stuff you should know is a production of. iHeart Radio. For more podcasts, iMheart.

Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple. Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your. favorite shows.