Author of Seinfeld's Pop-Tarts Movie Talks January 6, Mad Men

Jerry Seinfeld, Cedric the Entertainer and Jim Gaffigan in “Unfrosted.”

Courtesy of Netflix

[This story includes spoilers for the Netflix movie Unfrosted.]

The buzz around Unfrosted Things are heating up, Jerry Seinfeld's highly fictionalized Pop Tart origin story is now streaming on Netflix.

Seinfeld, who stars in the comedy, which marks his directorial debut, also co-wrote the project's script. Spike Feresten, who worked with Seinfeld on the legendary NBC sitcom, contributed to the script His fieldwith Feresten writing one of the series' most popular and quotable episodes: “The Soup Nazi.”

During a conversation with The Hollywood ReporterFeresten discussed some of the most memorable moments from the film, which is set in 1963. This includes a plot point in which the Kellogg's cereal mascots boycott the company because they fear that the Pop-Tart will make them irrelevant, leading to a sequence in which the mascots storm the company's offices, similar to the Attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Feresten explained that the sequence felt fitting due to several factors. He noted that Thurl Ravenscroft, the actor who originally voiced Tony the Tiger and is played by Hugh Grant in the film, almost lashed out in real life because he felt he was underpaid.

“While we were writing it, there was a real strike at Kellogg's,” says Feresten. “And then of course there was the riot, and we thought, 'Why don't we have our own mascot riot?' But it was actually about costumed creatures doing violent things. We thought this would be a fun series of pictures. We didn't really think the riot was funny, but we thought, 'If we can do violent actions with mascots, that could be a funny situation.'”

According to Feresten, the main impetus for the sequence was to advance the story. “It was never like, 'We want to do something on January 6th,'” he continues. “When you build a story, you just build one piece at a time. And that story took us there and we thought, “If we do this quickly and make it funny, maybe the audience will like it.” And that was really the goal of everything in the film: to give jokes and scenes that people would enjoy even though they may reflect something ugly.”

Another memorable moment includes mad Men Alumni Jon Hamm and John Slattery appear as their characters from the Emmy-winning AMC series as they attempt to pitch Kellogg's for a raunchy Pop-Tarts ad campaign. Feresten remembers rewatching “Seinfeld.” mad Men during the pandemic as Unfrosted The team worked on the script and the writers would watch the episodes over lunch.

“There was this great scene where Jon Hamm was praising a lipstick company, and he's so mean to them,” Feresten says. “And Jerry said, ‘I don’t understand. They just write ads. Why are they so mean?' Then someone said, “It's 1963.” Theoretically, these guys could offer the Pop-Tart to Kellogg's.' And we said, 'Oh my God, can we do this?' Is this too meta – a fictional movie but a real TV series?'”

Feresten explains that everyone quickly voted for a new edition of the drama series. “We wrote the scene, then fell in love with it, and then it had to happen,” he says. “Hamm and Slattery were there from the start. That scene still gives me goosebumps when I watch it because if you asked Jerry if there was a drama he would ever want to be in, he would say, “That would be it.” mad Men.' Some of the furniture in the scene is from mad Men. This is really Jerry living out one of his fantasies.”

Additionally, Feresten praises Netflix for supporting the creative team throughout the process, as the writers did not seek permission from any of the brands they included in their script. “That wasn't it Barbie“, he jokes. “We didn’t have Mattel on board. We had kind of written this in secret during the pandemic and never expected to make it. So we hired a clearing attorney, Michael Donaldson, and he said, “Nobody expects Jerry Seinfeld to tell the truth.” They expect humor, so just do it. Many of the people you are talking about are dead. We have a saying in clearing: the deader the better. You don't have to ask Walter Cronkite for permission.'”

Feresten adds: “Here we are. And then Netflix said, 'Don't worry.'”