Instead of suing Jerry Seinfeld when he stole Pop-Tarts IP to create a feature-length movie, we saw opportunity. Pop-Tarts is all about bringing Crazy Good fun to the world, so we created a fictional and absurd feud, turning Jerry's movie release into a cultural (and sales) moment for the brand, without becoming official sponsors. We made a digital short showing a make-believe meeting between Pop-Tarts "President" and Jerry, and launched it like a movie with broad scale, and high-touch premium touchpoints. With meme-first partners, custom content and entertainment takeovers, Pop-Tarts sparked Crazy Good fun and became part of cultural conversation.

Pop-Tarts is a one-of-a-kind toaster pastry breakfast treat with crazy versatility – it can be eaten however, wherever, and with whatever you want. But as American culture has shifted to favor healthier meals and smaller but more indulgent treats, consumers have been turning to more sensible, expected foods to fill the role Pop-Tarts used to serve.

December 2023 kick-started a cultural momentum for the brand during a sponsored college football game called the Pop-Tarts Bowl. The event introduced a giant Pop-Tart mascot to the world who descended into a giant toaster and popped out as an edible prize for the winning team. It became an overnight sensation.

Jerry Seinfeld is an American comedian who gained fame in the 90s with his iconic TV sitcom Seinfeld and a career in comedy that’s stood the test of time. A self-proclaimed breakfast aficionado, Jerry had a long-standing joke about Pop-Tarts, touting it as one of the greatest inventions in American history – a joke that has made its rounds on social media, and even broken down and analyzed in a New York Times editorial.

Jerry decided to turn that famous joke into a full, feature-length film, about the invention of Pop-Tarts in the 1960s, released on Netflix in May 2024, without the permission of Pop-Tarts’ parent company, Kellanova. They heard about Jerry’s directorial debut the same way as the public – announced in an interview where he boasted about not seeking Kellanova’s permission, putting himself at risk for being sued.

In 2023, Pop-Tarts’ growth was slowing, leading to declining household penetration. Pop-Tarts was historically grounded in breakfast occasions only, and not thought of to satisfy a sweet craving. On top of that, no one in the house was talking about or asking for Pop-Tarts.

To become more top-of-mind as a versatile and indulgent treat, Pop-Tarts needed an idea that would reawaken everyone to the most exciting thing they could put in a grocery cart.

So, when Jerry Seinfeld announced the release of his new movie Unfrosted, done without Kellanova’s permission, it presented an opportunity for the brand to break into cultural conversation and expand into new eating occasions. To do so, we’d need to get people to connect the movie watching experience to a Pop-Tarts purchase.

Objectives:

• Drive earned impressions

• Drive incremental sales

• Drive viewership of Unfrosted

• Increase social mentions and engagement

To cope with everyday routine and convention, people turn to absurd things on social media. Things like #OddlySatisfying videos, celebrating cringe, and sharing all the crazy ways they crush, chop and devour a Pop-Tart.

But most brand collabs on social and other spaces are becoming increasingly predictable and formulaic – after all, it’s the year of the 2-hour Barbie ad and its surrounding IP fatigue. So, either suing Jerry or sponsoring him felt too… conventional.

Our idea was Unfrosted: Not Brought to You by Pop-Tarts. Instead of an official sponsorship, we created a fictional feud between Kellanova and Jerry to intrigue fans to watch the movie with Pop-Tarts in-hand.

We upended every convention of brand collabs, creating a mutually beneficial, totally absurd anti-partnership. Instead of working together, we’d “steal” from each other – driving participation, amplifying the tension, and ultimately getting more people to watch the movie and purchase Pop-Tarts.

To bring our anti-partnership to life, our strategy was to take a page from movie marketing and create a broad-reaching, premium launch moment for our short film. Working with the internet's most visited entertainment, social and video partners, our goal was to amplify the fictional feud, generating engagement and buzz around the "premiere" of our 3+ minute short.

Needing a big push in a limited window to attract viewers and make a splash, we set out to:

- Drive incremental reach through channel diversification and scale across entertainment rich destinations

- Increase frequency of touchpoints and platforms, focusing on the movie launch moment

- Shift from efficiency driven media plans that push short-term sales to high-touch premium partners including those that provide in-depth movie information, to secure views and streams

- Incorporate custom content and advertorial elements to infuse humor and engage our 18-44 year-old comedy, movie and Pop-Tart fans

We kicked off in March with teasers in Outdoor, Social and a movie trailer release. Jerry Seinfeld fueled the feud on an Unfrosted press tour. Then our digital short film was released depicting consequences of the feud: You steal our IP. We’ll steal your spotlight.

The digital short, released to press and social, directed consumers to an Unfrosted microsite where they could win an LTO box as seen in the move, buy Pop-Tarts, and sign-up for reminders to watch the movie with Pop-Tarts in-hand.

To amp up things further, real Kellanova executives “stole” Jerry’s jokes on LinkedIn, brand social channels posted memes, we ran a custom Tomatometer takeover on Rotten Tomatoes and Jerry Media (e.g., @BeigeCardigan) chimed in. We drove video views via YouTube, Netflix and Social.

Tarty, Pop-Tarts mascot, teased his red carpet appearance on TikTok, then “crashed” the red carpet coming face-to-face with Jerry, sparking more meme-able content.

Unfrosted: Not Brought to You by Pop-Tarts successfully turned a conventional movie release into a Pop-Tarts frenzy – without any official sponsorship. The absurdity of the feud became an invitation for fans to share their excitement and curiosity for the upcoming movie. Fans exchanged content about their own favorite Pop-Tarts flavors and rituals, while also discussing the return of Seinfeld’s famous characters in Pop-Tarts digital short.

Movie launch weekend became a nationwide Pop-Tarts craving as Pop-Tarts dominated Netflix’s charts, grocery and online shopping carts, and cultural conversation.

• 297,501,702 impressions by opening weekend

• +$15M incremental sales within 2 weeks

• Incremental sales are up +57.6% vs. year ago

• 17,000 sweepstakes entries in just the first 48 hours

• Beat TikTok benchmark by +425% (Get Ready With Me content)

• #1 Netflix movie on opening weekend

To make this work a comedic success, we needed to bring together the Unfrosted movie’s surrealist humor and Pop-Tarts Crazy Good brand equity. The result is a subversive take on what happens behind the scenes in corporate dealings, leading to bizarre, non-sensical, and over-the-top humor. But of course, done in an iconic, undeniably Jerry Seinfeld way – with self-awareness and insightful absurdity.

Our film was inspired by subverting the most egregious tropes found in corporate settings: for example, dressing Tarty, the giant mascot, in a suit and tie, making punchlines out of legal jargon, and reframing the role of a serious executive as a slapstick comedian.

Our media plan was inspired by subverting traditional approaches to FMCG media plans: for example, activating with meme-first social accounts (@dudewithsign, @beigecardigan, etc.), launching like a movie, and creating custom “stolen-IP-feud” content on Rotten Tomatoes with a site takeover on Unfrosted’s launch day.