The Big Picture

• Unfrosted lampoons clichés in biopics with a comedic take on the creation of the Pop-Tart.
• Jerry Seinfeld's film features a fictional rivalry based on real history between Kellogg's and Post.
• Historical figures like Tony the Tiger's voice actor add a comedic touch to the satirical film.

In recent years, all types of products have had their own dramatic “origin story” on screen. While the inception of a popular shoe brand or a handheld electronic device may not seem inherently cinematic, great films like Air and BlackBerry explored the unique circumstances surrounding their creation, as well as their lasting cultural impact. That doesn’t mean that this style of film can’t go without being lampooned, as Jerry Seinfeld offered a comedic interpretation of the creation of the Pop-Tarts breakfast pastry. Unfrosted explores a fictional battle of arms between rival food manufacturing companies, Kellogg’s and Post, to create the perfect breakfast product.

By depicting the birth of America’s favorite toaster pastry as a seismic historical event, Seinfeld lampoons many of the clichés common within biopic films. The film certainly has no shortage of ludicrous elements: any film that features Christian Slater as a villainous milkman and a duo of shocking cameos from iconic television characters can’t be asking audiences to take it that seriously. While the intention may have purely been to entertain, Unfrosted alludes to some actual historical events and real corporate conflicts.

The Battle Between Kellogg’s and Post in ‘Unfrosted’ Is Real

Unfrosted depicts the valiant efforts made by the food inventor Bob Cabana (Seinfeld), the NASA scientist Donna Stankowski (Melissa McCarthy), and Kellogg’s head Edsel Kellogg III (Jim Gaffigan) to put together a crack team of experts to create a breakfast pastry product. Bob’s research begins after discovering remnants of a fruit-flavored scone in a dumpster near the Post facilities. This suggests that their rival company and their eccentric head Marjorie Post (Amy Schumer) have developed a portable breakfast product that could easily be shelved and toasted. Although many of the characters are fictional, Marjorie Post was a real person and Bob is loosely based on the real Kellogg’s employee, William Post. Marjorie was the daughter of the American breakfast food innovator C.W. Post, and served as the head of the General Foods Corporation for the majority of her life.

While the foul play depicted in Unfrosted is largely sensationalized, Kellogg’s and Post had a real rivalry that included the theft of ideas. Both companies were founded in Battle Creek, Michigan and developed groundbreaking cereal recipes in the early 20th century. Post infamously stole the Kellogg recipe for Corn Flakes to make the knock-off brand known as “Post Toasties.” Historian Howard Markel compared their rivalry to that of Ford and General Motors. In the 1960s, both companies were developing breakfast pastry recipes simultaneously, with Post announcing the tinfoil-wrapped “Country Squares” in 1963. However, Kellogg’s beat them to the market when the Pop-Tarts developed by Bill Post were unveiled in 1964.

While Unfrosted features Bob and Donna attempting to come up with a name for their item through a series of young test groups, Kellogg’s actually did test Pop-Tart taste with children. Bill Post first brought prototype products home to his children when he was working as a manager at a Hekman Biscuit Company, which would later become known as the Keebler Food Company. Internally, the products were first known as “fruit scones” before the name “Pop-Tart” was developed in reference to the “pop art” movement that dominated the 1960s thanks to the influence of Andy Warhol. While a fictionalized version of Warhol played by Dan Levy makes a cameo in Unfrosted, his involvement with Pop Tarts is pure speculation.

‘Unfrosted’ Incorporates Real Historical Figures

One of the more ridiculous storylines in Unfrosted involves the actor Thurl Ravenscroft (Hugh Grant) leading a revolution of cereal mascots against Kellogg’s, as they fear being “replaced” due to the popularity of Pop-Tarts. While he was not a malevolent Shakespearean actor like Grant portrays him as, Ravenscroft was the real voice of Tony the Tiger in Frosted Flakes commercials. In addition to voicing the character for over five decades, Ravenscroft also came up with the infamous “They’re Grrrreat!” catchphrase, as is depicted in Unfrosted. He was also well known for voicing characters in several Disney attractions, and served as the vocalist for the song “You’re A Mean One Mr. Grinch” on the classic holiday special How The Grinch Stole Christmas.

While they were not actually involved in the creation of Pop-Tarts, the team that Bob and Donna assembles in Unfrosted is composed of real historical figures. Jack LaLanne (James Marsden) was an admitted “fast food junkie” who became a world-renowned nutrition enthusiast and developed programs aimed at improving the nation’s health. LaLanne later earned the nickname “The Godfather of Fitness.” Bobby Moynihan co-stars as the real “Chef Boyardee” who leads the canned pasta brand of the same name. In actuality, the recipe was named after the Italian immigrant Ettore Boiardi, who founded the company in 1928. The film also features a cameo by Adrian Martinez as Tom Carvel, a Greek-born businessman who created the popular Carvel soft-serve ice cream brand.

‘Unfrosted’ Makes Allusions to Historical Events From the 1960s

Seinfeld’s attempts at satire are clearly aimed at revealing the superficiality of dramatizing products that were only developed to make a profit. Unfrosted presents an alternative version of history where the importance of breakfast food development is more consequential than the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. The film suggests that President John F. Kennedy (Bill Burr) took an active role in encouraging Kellogg’s to develop the Pop-Tart before the recipe could be acquired by the Russians. This tension escalates when Marjorie Post meets with the Soviet Union's First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev (Dean Norris) to discuss a potential agreement.

While reviews thus far have been scathing, Unfrosted does reflect the real rise of commercialization in the 1960s. The booming economy in the United States led to an increased level of advertising and the development of easily identifiable product brands and commercials. By getting consumers to emotionally respond to the products they invested in, American companies ensured that names like “Pop-Tarts” would be associated with more than just breakfast.

Unfrosted is available on Netflix in the U.S.

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