Unfrosted

Editor’s Note: The movie Unfrosted is mostly fictional. The real inventor of the Pop Tart, William “Bill” Post (yes, Post!), grew up in the Christian Reformed Church and attended the CRC as an adult for many years. He died at age 96 in February 2024.

Near the end of the 1960s, Americans did the impossible—they launched astronauts into space, traveled to the moon, walked on it, and returned safely home. But earlier in the same decade, Americans accomplished another impossible feat that changed breakfast food forever—the invention of the Pop Tart.

The 2024 movie Unfrosted is the fictional story of the pop tart. The film was co-written and stars Jerry Seinfeld who plays Bob Cabana (the head of development at Kellogg’s) and his real-life comedian friends in various roles (Melissa McCarthy, Jim Gaffigan, Hugh Grant, Amy Schumer). Unfrosted is the first time Jerry Seinfeld sits in the director chair, stepping behind the camera to steer from behind the scenes.

The comedy depicts two cereal companies in competition with each other—Kellogg’s and Post. Both are trying to dominate the breakfast market, when suddenly Kellogg's falls behind because Post has a new groundbreaking instant food item in development—a fruit-filled breakfast square. Kellogg quickly develops a breakfast square of their own but worries that by inventing a breakfast item that can be consumed without milk, the dairy industry (Big Milk) might feel threatened. Kellogg’s fears are confirmed when Big Milk kidnaps Bob.

Eventually both Kellogg (Pop-Tarts) and Post (“Country Squares”) bring their version of the breakfast food to market. One of them far outshines the other and changes the way Americans consume breakfast forever.

Unfrosted is a silly movie. It received mixed reviews from critics. Christians might wonder what the purpose of a movie like Unfrosted might be. Part of being human is the ability to imagine and play—and here we get to see one person, a comedian named Jerry Seinfeld, play in a sandbox of ideas and shape a story that can make us chuckle. And sometimes, that is exactly what we need after a stressful day—to slide a frozen pizza into the oven, grab a cold soda, and watch a funny movie about something that doesn’t really matter—a toasted carbohydrate rectangle filled with jam. (Netflix, Rated PG-13 for suggestive references and language)