Who invented the Pop Tarts?

Question

Who invented the Pop Tarts?

Answer 1

Post Cereals first created the confection that would become Pop-Tarts in the early 1960s. Post adapted its process for enclosing food in foil to keep it fresh without spoiling - first used for dog food - to its new toaster-prepared breakfast food. Intended to complement its cold cereals, Post announced its new product in 1963 to the press, giving them the name "Country Squares."

Because Post had revealed Country Squares before it was ready, Post's biggest competitor, Kellogg, was able to develop its own version in six months.

Post released its Country Squares later that same year, but sales lagged behind Pop-Tarts. It is widely believed that Country Squares failed because of their name. In the progressive culture of the time, with TV shows like "The Beverly Hillbillies", the name "Country Squares" was associated with being backward and boring. Country Squares failed to take off, while Pop-Tarts became a sensation.

At first, Pop-Tarts were not frosted because it was believed that the frosting would melt in the toaster. However, it was later discovered that frosting could survive the toaster and the first frosted Pop-Tarts were released in 1967, much to the delight of children everywhere.  However, frosted Pop-Tarts are not suitable for vegetarians because they contain gelatin. Today, there is a wide variety of Pop-Tart flavors, including Chocolate Chip, S'Mores, Raspberry, French Toast and Mint Chocolate Chip.

In 1971, a cartoon character named Milton the Toaster was introduced to promote Pop-Tarts.  The campaign ended when a commercial showed a child hugging the toaster, leading to complaints that children might imitate the commercial and burn themselves.

In 1992, Pop-Tarts became the focus of more controversy, when Thomas Nangle sued Kellogg for damages after his Pop-Tart got stuck and caught fire in his toaster. The case gained notoriety when humor columnist Dave Barry wrote a column about starting a fire in his own toaster with Pop-Tarts.  In 1994, Texas A&M University professor Patrick Michaud performed an experiment proving that, when left in the toaster too long, strawberry Pop-Tarts could produce flames over a foot high.  The discovery triggered a flurry of lawsuits. Since then, Pop-Tarts carry the warning: "Due to possible risk of fire, never leave your toasting appliance or microwave unattended."

Pop-Tarts were introduced with fairly substantial marketing to the United Kingdom in the early 1990s, although they have failed to replicate their U.S. success. The frosting initially had a tendency to melt off of the surface completely during heating and subsequently clog the toaster, a design error which suggests they may have been manufactured by a different company under license. This is still a topic of debate.

In 2001, the United States military dropped 2.4 million Pop-Tarts in Afghanistan during the United States War in Afghanistan.

In 2004, Pop-Tarts began a new ad campaign titled "Crazy Good". Characters that appeared often were a singing lizard and a group of kids, dubbed "crazy-good kids", who commonly frightened the pop-tarts and caused them to be eaten or chased away. The ads employ squiggly animation, surreal humor, and non sequitur, all of which bear a strong resemblance to the signature work of animator Don Hertzfeldt. One "crazy-good kid" in particular bears strong resemblance to Billy in Hertzfeldt's Billy's Balloon. However, Hertzfeldt was not involved in any way with the ads and is currently looking into possible litigation for stealing his work.

In 2006, Pop-Tarts also introduced a new product known as Go-Tarts. These are similar to Pop-Tarts, but are long and narrow, and wrapped individually (instead of in packages of two).