Pop-Tarts is a one-of-a-kind toaster pastry breakfast treat with crazy versatility. But, they’re 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 Pop-Tarts, and growth was slowing. 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 to expand into new eating occasions. Starcom along with the Integrated Agency Team jumped into action.

We knew that people cope with everyday routine by turning to absurd things on social media. And a movie called Unfrosted - that was absurd! But most brand collabs on social and other spaces were becoming increasingly predictable and formulaic. 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. Instead of working together, we “stole” from each other – driving participation, amplifying the tension, and ultimately getting more people to purchase Pop-Tarts. 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 premium touchpoints. With meme-first partners, custom content and entertainment takeovers, Pop-Tarts sparked Crazy Good fun and became part of cultural conversation.

To amp up things further, real Kellanova executives “stole” Jerry’s jokes on LinkedIn, and we ran a custom Tomatometer takeover on Rotten Tomatoes. And, 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.

We successfully turned a conventional movie release into a Pop-Tarts frenzy, driving +$15 million in incremental sales within two weeks – without any official sponsorship. The absurdity of the feud became an invitation for fans to share their excitement and curiosity for the upcoming movie, which hit #1 on Netflix during opening weekend, accumulating over 300 million impressions. Across the campaign’s promotional period, we generated a total of 800 million impressions.

Media/partnership: Starcom, Creative: Le Truc, PR: Weber