“The Battle of the Pop-Tart Cookie” features Seinfeld creating family humor

Jerry Seinfeld played a trick on his audience. After hitting the nail on the head saying on a podcast that political correctness and the extreme left killed comedy, making it impossible for us to have good humor on TV like in the old days, the creator of the series
Seinfeld It wasn’t for confrontation. He preferred to release a film on Netflix that is unlikely to suffer any type of patrol. The Pop-Tart Cookie Battle
It’s a simple work, which could even be a good choice to be seen with children and grandchildren, without the potential to offend anyone – perhaps only those who expected something more daring.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Seinfeld talked to his writing partners about writing a film telling the story of the birth of Pop-Tarts, a type of pie to be heated in the toaster that has been popular in the United States since the 1960s. The comedian 70-year-old has a famous joke about the treat he usually includes in his stand-ups. Furthermore, he has a craving for morning food, as seen in several episodes of Seinfeld. One of his pleasures on the series that marked the 90s was swapping lunch or dinner for a bowl of cereal with milk.

To make the Netflix feature film, he didn’t worry about telling the story as it actually happened. So much so that Kellogg’s, the brand that invented the pie, is not a partner in the audiovisual product, unlike Lego or other films. Barbie, which had involvement from the Mattel toy factory from the beginning. Seinfeld wanted to be able to mystify the creation of Pop-Tarts, without depending on the approval of the cereal company, looking for laugh points outside of the true story. It’s a shame the film isn’t that funny.

Stuffed cast

In The Pop-Tart Cookie Battle, all the characters are silly or naive. The roles went to stars like Peter Dinklage (who plays the leader of the milk union, outraged by a new morning product that doesn’t need milk), Hugh Grant (Shakespearean actor who plays Tony the Tiger, Kellogg’s mascot), Bill Burr (as then-president JFK) and Melissa McCarthy (product developer of fundamental importance for Pop-Tarts to come to life). Jerry Seinfeld himself, who made his debut as a director, took on the main role of Bob Cabana, responsible for the pie project. However, none of them are in a position to shine on film.

By opting for a more family-friendly film, perhaps considering that breakfast is an important topic for children and brings loved ones together at the table every day, Seinfeld avoided very grotesque situations and acidic dialogues. There are things that seem bizarre on paper, like two young people looking for food scraps in the trash of Post, a rival company to Kellogg’s, but which in execution are far from shocking. The exception is the character of Thomas Lennon, a German recruited to help with the creation of Pop-Tarts. When the script insinuates that he worked for Nazi Germany and that he was even going to live in Argentina before being called to the project, the film really makes you laugh.

The rest of the time, The Pop-Tart Cookie Battle it’s just a pastime full of movie and comedy stars, far short of the best moments of Seinfeld. If the idea wasn’t to prove a point, that the left and the politically correct patrol really complicated the lives of comedians, then he just wanted to make a film that would satisfy hunger quickly, without great gastronomic qualities, like the American pie.

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