The Future. Brands old and new are bringing back the colorful, anthropomorphic, personality-driven mascots popularized a century ago, but marketing them more towards adults than kids. With nostalgic products ruling the wallets of consumers, the weird exploits of these new mascots may cook up a little entertainment ecosystem in their own right.
Retro vibes, modern jokesThe anthropomorphic brand mascot is making a comeback… but with a little more bite.
Pop-Tarts is leading the way, positioning its Agents of Crazy Good as the first “edible mascots” with a funny college football sponsorship and doing an ad where one of the Pop-Tarts is interacting with characters from Adult Swim’s Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
There’s the ever-evolving M&M’s spokescandies where getting eaten always seems like an existential threat (outside of bizarre controversies over how they dress).
Now, several smaller brands, like Ugly Drinks and The Mean Tomato, are getting in on the action as a way to lean into comedy and plug into social media campaigns on a whim.
In the case of Pop-Tarts, the re-branding makes a ton of sense — 17% more adults have started eating them as snacks since 2019.
We’re clearly nostalgic for the breakfast of our childhoods.
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