Pop-Tarts in Times Square

If you've ever been to Times Square, you've seen M&M World and the big Hershey's store.  These candy stores are homes to mass-marketing of everything related to their brand, from clothing to mugs to toys to, yes, candy.  At M&M World, you can get __ different colors of M&Ms.

But now there is a new challenger for the tourists' dollars - Pop-Tart World:

According to this story in the NY Times, this is experimental marketing.  The lease on the space is only through January; they want to figure out if this helps the brand.

As you can imagine, the focus is on the food here, served at on-site cafe:

The menu includes the 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 Ants on a Log?, which is celery, peanut butter and chunks of the Wild Grape version.

And then there’s the Pop-Tarts Sushi, three kinds of Pop-Tarts minced and then wrapped in a fruit roll-up. “We did an internal tasting here at the building, and it was the winner,” said Etienne Patout, senior director at the Pop-Tarts brand, part of the Kellogg Company.

Visitors can also build their own Pop-Tarts, starting with a basic pastry and asking servers to add frosting, toppings (coconut, sprinkles) and drizzle (caramel, raspberry). They can take their pastries frozen, toasted, microwaved or uncooked, but there will be no self-serve.

I'm ready to try it if I get back to New York in time.