This week's Fun Friday starts off with IT'SUGAR's "Feelin' Gifty" campaign, a curated collection of exclusive holiday products guaranteed to make this season the sweetest one yet, the retail store says. With unique gifting options for every budget, IT’SUGAR’s holiday gift guide includes brand-new private label items, candy fillable containers, and corporate gifting options on IT’SUGAR.com.

From stocking stuffers to treats, IT’SUGAR’s holiday collection offers a unique blend of trending candies and retro classics. Featured items include the IT’SUGAR 24 Days of Candy Advent Calendar, IT’SUGAR Candy Shop Cookie Kit, Candy Mystery Boxes, Retro Sours, and more. 

For those looking to add a personal touch to their holiday gifts, IT’SUGAR’s “Chews Your Mix” candy customization experience is available online with holiday-themed options like Paint Can Fillables, Gumball Globes, and Holiday Candy Mixes, where shoppers mix and match their favorite candies, creating a personalized mix to share with friends and family. And for businesses seeking unique gifts this holiday season, IT’SUGAR introduces customizable corporate gifts.

Pop-Tarts Bowl mascots compete to be eaten

How does Kellanova's Pop-Tarts top the first-ever Edible Mascot, an overnight internet sensation? They triple it! The Pop-Tarts Bowl is back with three times the Crazy Goodness as the game won't just play out between two college football teams: it'll be happening between three Pop-Tarts Edible Mascots, too. All for the ultimate pastry glory of being the game-winning snack for the Pop-Tarts Bowl victors.

Following in the footsteps of the dearly departed Frosted Strawberry Edible Mascot, this year, Pop-Tarts is introducing three new frosted faces to rep the game on December 28:

• Frosted Wild Berry – Iconic for its purple frosting and teal swirl
• Frosted Hot Fudge Sundae – Dressed in a fudge icing swirl and colorful sprinkles
• A Mystery Flavor – A previously discontinued fan-favorite flavor being resurrected from the Pop-Tarts vault and headed back to shelves

So, who is this mysterious third Edible Mascot? Back by popular demand, a highly requested flavor will make an epic return to shelves soon, premiering as part of the 2024 Pop-Tarts Bowl. Consumers can get in on the action by submitting their guesses of the toaster pastry's identity on PopTarts.com/Bowl right now. The third Edible Mascot flavor will be revealed in the coming weeks across Pop-Tarts social channels. 

Also new for 2024, when the final whistle is blown, the ultimate decision on which Edible Mascot gets eaten by the winners to ascend to "mouth heaven" will be bestowed on the 2024 Pop-Tarts Bowl game-winning MVP, raising the mouthwatering stakes even further.

To hype up the game and honor the memory of the first-ever Edible Mascot, fans can purchase limited-edition Pop-Tarts Printed Fun Mascot Packs, starting now at retailers nationwide. Available for a limited-time in two flavors—Frosted Strawberry and Frosted Apple Turnover (a Walmart exclusive)—each pastry is printed with various images to commemorate the best moments, including the Frosted Strawberry mascot, from the 2023 Pop-Tarts Bowl.

The 2024 Pop-Tarts Bowl will air live on December 28 at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC. The post-season showdown will unfold as two teams—and three Pop-Tarts Edible Mascots—face off at Camping World Stadium in Orlando.

HI-CHEW returns to Fortnite with LTO games, collectibles

HI-CHEW, the fruity, intensely chewy candy, announced a new immersive integration with the popular game Fortnite. Building on HI-CHEW’s successful Fortnite integration last year, this new collaboration is again powered by Super League, a leader in delivering immersive experiences across the world’s largest gaming platforms. HI-CHEW branded customizations will be integrated into two of Fortnite’s Minigame Box PVP Island mini-games: Color Switch and Spin Cycle, in addition to HI-CHEW Hoppers, a new custom minigame. Players can collect HI-CHEW branded power-ups and in-game currency that can be redeemed for exclusive HI-CHEW collectible hats.

HI-CHEW recently announced its first official brand mascot, Chewbie, a plump, carefree chew, and this Fortnite integration marks their official debut to the gaming community. Players will get to interact with Chewbie through engaging dialogue or “Chewlish” audio as they play the HI-CHEW Hoppers and Color Switch mini-games. Players will also encounter the mascot as a non-player character (NPC) in the game lobby, where they will earn experience points (XP), encouraging them to purchase HI-CHEW collectibles. All customizations and prizes will be available to Fortnite users for a limited time through December 15.

HI-CHEW has also tapped popular Fortnite YouTube influencers Mustard, HomeOfGames, and Spaiidz to create dedicated content to showcase the HI-CHEW-branded mini-games, amplifying the excitement and engagement within the community. The videos will be dedicated gameplay videos that will focus on showing off the new HI-CHEW mini-games within Fortnite, while encouraging players that HI-CHEW is the perfect candy for gaming.

Welch's Fruit Snacks launches "Fruitside Assistance"

As families across the country gear up for the hustle and bustle of holiday travel, Welch’s Fruit Snacks launched FruitSide Assistance, an initiative designed to make road trips smoother, sweeter, and more enjoyable. While the holiday season is the happiest time of the year, according to a recent survey, six in ten respondents said that travel is the most stressful part, especially with kids.

During the busy upcoming travel season, when highways are jam packed, and cars are bumper to bumper, parents know delays, boredom, and tired kids can turn holiday magic into a test of endurance. Welch’s FruitSide Assistance was created with these families in mind. 83% of parents said the key to successful holiday travel with their kids is a robust roster of snacks. On the busiest travel day of the year, November 26, travelers were treated by Welch’s Fruit Snacks to a free FruitSide Assistance kit including everything needed to handle kids’ on-road travel mishaps: coloring activities and games, a cozy blanket, a phone charger, and a fruit-shaped squishy toy, among other such essentials, and, of course, some Welch’s Fruit Snacks.

Welch’s FruitSide Assistance was available on I-95 between New York City and Boston, the 5 Freeway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, and Interstate 55 between Chicago and St. Louis.

Newman’s Own, Inc. conducts social experiment to determine if brand purpose affects consumer preference

Cheese or pepperoni? Thin crust or deep dish? How about purpose-driven or excess profit-driven? Newman’s Own, Inc., a company well-know for its innovative business model with a commitment to giving 100% of its profits away to nourish and transform the lives of children facing adversity, reveals the results of its novel Good Tastes Better social experiment. In a blind taste test where brand names were not disclosed, participants were asked to sample slices of frozen pizza accompanied by different descriptions—some focusing on a commitment to giving 100% of profits to children, and others focusing on a company's commitment to funding corporate excess. Unbeknownst to participants, each slice of frozen pizza was actually the same: Newman’s Own Margherita Pizza.

The blind taste test revealed that participants consistently rated pizza slices described as “giving 100% profits to help kids” far higher, with an average rating of 8.5 out of 10. In contrast, slices presented as supporting excessive executive bonuses and lavish perks received a low average rating of 2.9, despite the fact that every slice was the same. The significant difference in rating for each slice draws an important conclusion: consumers’ perceptions of taste are highly influenced by a brand’s values and its mission.

While many companies claim to care about purpose and social impact, they often prioritize profit over purpose, including extreme executive bonuses and elaborate company perks. The execution of the Newman’s Own Good Tastes Better experiment sought to emphasize the contrast between typical corporate behavior and companies that genuinely lead by example and demonstrated that food that does good for the community truly tastes better.