As if Times Square wasn't already enough of a tourist trap, Pop-Tarts' latest publicity stunt is an eyesore that plans to stick around until January. Pop-Tarts World NYC, which officially opened yesterday, is a rainbow scaffolding nightmare and, not surprisingly, a tourist disaster.
The purple-blue glow of the lighting inside Pop-Tarts World gave me the feeling I was at a bowling alley, and the amount of small children and camera-toting parents in the crowd made me feel like I was trapped at a Chuck-E-Cheese birthday party.
The attractions include a counter-service cafe that makes custom Pop-Tarts and other strange creations such as "Pop-Tart sushi" (the Tart is minced and wrapped in a fruit roll), a robot vending machine called the Varietizer, which will create a custom box of six Pop-Tarts just for you, and a t-shirt making station.
But what falls particularly flat about this PR extravaganza is the "social media station," or a row of computers on which guests can play Pop-Tarts games, watch Pop-Tarts videos on YouTube or connect to Facebook to tell the world about Pop-Tarts. This bald-faced brand promotion might pass as acceptable if the rest of the campaign was actually savvy or interesting. But I sincerely doubt that the eight-year-olds clad in "I Love NY" t-shirts and their overprotective parents will want anything more than a sugary treat made from high-fructose corn syrup.
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