Brand mascots are becoming irreverent

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 jokes
The 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.