Pop Tarts Pop Up

In this world of a thousand cable TV stations, 24-hour programming, constant communications and pocket-size computers, how can any brand possibly stand out above the crowd?

Advertising doesn’t wield the power it once did. Consumers can TiVo right through your commercials. Or they can hit the “Close This Box” X on your annoying Internet pop-ups.

Besides, where do you advertise? What exactly are people watching these days? What are they reading? Where is their attention?

And if you do reach out for their attention, what’s your message? It better be an instantaneous, eye-popping grabber or people will just move on.

So it’s kind of reassuring to see what Pop-Tarts has chosen to do. The 46-year-old breakfast pastry brand has opened a branded store. And not just any branded store. A 3200-square-foot shop smack dab in the middle of Times Square.

Times Square? Isn’t that putting yourself right back into the multi-media, cry-for-attention world of a million visual stimuli? You better bring it, Pop-Tarts.

The store is called Pop-Tarts World: a cafe serving about 30 Pop-Tarts-based snacks and desserts, including Fluffer Butter, marshmallow spread sandwiched between two Pop-Tarts frosted fudge pastries; the Sticky Cinna Munchies, cinnamon rolls topped with cream-cheese icing and chunks of Pop-Tarts cinnamon-roll variety; and Pop-Tarts Sushi, three kinds of Pop-Tarts minced and then wrapped in a fruit roll-up.

According to The New York Times, customers can also build their own Pop-Tarts with a variety of frostings, toppings and “drizzle” (like caramel or raspberry). They can take their pastries frozen, toasted, micro-waved or uncooked.

Don’t want to wait? There’s a create-your-own-variety-pack vending machine called the Varietizer, a custom-built vending machine that carries about 23 of the regular Pop-Tart flavors with a touch screen for selection.

Of course, this being Times Square, there’s a pulsating light show that mimics the colors of frostings, fillings and sprinkles, and computer screens on the side of the store providing access to the web site PopTartsWorld.com, social media sites and Pop-Tarts video games. The lease runs through January. Then the company will decide whether the store makes long-term sense.

Pop-Tarts was started by the Kellogg Co. in 1964 and was instantly popular for its sweet taste and toaster convenience. But how is it doing in today’s health-conscious society, when it’s looked on as little more than a morning sugar rush?

The company is betting that a high-profile brand statement will remind people Pop-Tarts was once a pretty cool idea, even if a lot of those people don’t even know what a toaster is.

How do you recoup that hipness? Open a branded store in Times Square. You’ve got to like their thinking.