In 2012, Jerry Seinfeld appeared in a New York Times video where he’s seen breaking down how he wrote his famous “Pop Tart Joke.”
While he referred to the snack (in true “Seinfeld” fashion) as “something that means absolutely nothing” in the Times video, it turns out Pop-Tarts mean a lot to the legendary comedian, since over a decade later, he is now directing and starring in “Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story,” an upcoming Netflix film that illustrates the genesis of how the iconic sugar-coated breakfast item came to be.
Billed as a 1960s-set “tale of ambition, betrayal, sugar, and menacing milkmen,” the film’s trailer – released on Thursday – packs a fully-loaded cast, including Melissa McCarthy, Hugh Grant, Amy Schumer and comedian Bill Burr, who is seen playing President John F. Kennedy.
The clip features McCarthy and Seinfeld teaming up to create a cereal alternative that would ensure “happy childhoods for millions of American kids,” with clips of Grant dressed as Frosted Flakes mascot Tony the Tiger, an angry Schumer tracking her rivals and footage of cereal factories that feel like scenes out of “Willy Wonka.”
According to an official synopsis, the film follows rival cereal corporations Kellogg’s and Post as they “race to create a pastry that will change the face of breakfast.”
There truly couldn’t be a better person to lead the charge in telling a breakfast-related Pop-Tart story than Seinfeld, who was notoriously often seen eating a bowl of cereal during his “Seinfeld” run and even joked about the foil-wrapped snack in his 2020 Netflix special “23 Hours to Kill.”
It’s clear that throughout time, the Pop-Tart remains relevant. And as Seinfeld said at the end of his 2012 Pop-Tart joke: “They can’t go stale, because they were never fresh.”
“Unfrosted” will be available to stream on Netflix on May 3.