Warning: SPOILERS for Unfrosted are in play. If you haven’t sat down to this balanced breakfast of bonkers just yet, you’ve been warned.
From the moment I first saw the Unfrosted trailer, two things stuck out in my mind. First, the crazy comedy tone of Jerry Seinfeld’s directorial debut looked like it was going to be absolutely nuts. However, the second thing was a pair of names that seemed ripe for a cameo opportunity that could make television fans even happier.
As it turns out, my hunch on those cameos was correct, and when sitting down with Jerry Seinfeld and Jim Gaffigan during the Unfrosted press day, I was able to ask how this pair of wild appearances came to pass. Now since what we’re about to discuss is probably the largest spoiler in the roster of inspired cameos that fill Jerry Seinfeld’s film, I have to warn the uninitiated.
If you want to avoid spoilers, but want to learn more, I suggest you check out CinemaBlend’s Unfrosted review in the meantime. Those ready to proceed into the future and get a little mad can move forward, as we’re going to hop on the carousel for some fun.
Unfrosted’s Mad Men Scene, Explained
Unfrosted’s fictional story of Pop Tarts’ invention includes a couple of moments with, as Jim Gaffigan’s Edsel Kellogg III calls them, “a couple of can’t miss Madison Avenue ad men.” But to the world at large, they’re known as Roger Sterling and Don Draper, played respectively by John Slattery and Jon Hamm.
As one could expect, the scene where Kellogg and his cohorts Bob Cabana (Jerry Seinfeld) and Donna Stankowski (Melissa McCarthy) plays out like a classic Mad Men pitch session gone beautifully wrong. With the Kellogg’s team unable to decide on a name for their product, Don takes the idea of the Pop Tart and injects some sexiness into it. If you thought the process of unwrapping and heating up this classic confection couldn’t be turned into borderline TV-MA dialogue, you haven’t heard Jon Hamm’s spiel introducing what he eventually renames the “Jelle Jolie.”
Unfortunately, Edsel and company don’t take that suggestion, leading Don and Roger to leave the room in a huff. However, that’s not before Donna shares her own moment of sparks with Don, because would it be a Mad Men moment without Mr. Draper trying to close the deal?
How Jerry Seinfeld Landed Those Mad Men Cameos In Unfrosted
Those who have missed Mad Men’s presence on the airwaves are going to love this scene, as there are plenty of pleasing references and nods to the series’ characters and events sprinkled onto this cinematic pastry. This includes some rather strong memories of Season 7’s final moments, which tracks since in a recent GQ interview, Jerry Seinfeld named the series finale as one of the best in the business.
However, when it came to landing Jon Hamm and John Slattery in the Unfrosted galaxy of talent, it actually wasn’t too hard to land. Seinfeld shared with CinemaBlend how simple it all really was, in these remarks:
I’m friends with both of those guys. That was the secret handshake of the whole thing, I know them both. And we weren’t sure if we could just do that, if there’s any legal thing there of just taking characters from another piece of work.
As if the Unfrosted cast wasn’t already stacked with an insane roster of talent, Jerry Seinfeld decided to jump in and include the reunion of Sterling and Draper almost a decade after we bid farewell to Mad Men and its characters. While getting the actors to agree to this appearance was one thing, even during Jon Hamm’s TV comeback year, making sure that the proper clearances were obtained was a whole other issue.
The Process Involved In Clearing Roger Sterling And Don Draper For Unfrosted
Plenty of historical figures and icons of foodstuff history are shown off in Unfrosted. In fact, there’s no other movie where you could see John F. Kennedy criticize a drawing of a Pop Tart, Snap, Crackle and Pop overseeing a funeral with military-style honors, and legendary actor Hugh Grant continuing his “Orange Era” of performances.
However, Mad Men’s leading men are trademarked characters of fiction, which leads to much stronger copyright rules at play. Even then, as Jerry Seinfeld described the thought process executed to make it all happen, co-star and friend Jim Gaffigan also brought up another interesting concern. Here’s what they told CinemaBlend further along in this interview:
“Jim Gaffigan: Also asking someone who’s done these iconic characters are they gonna be ok to do that?
Jerry Seinfeld: Yeah. It wasn’t that bad. It was a really long shot, to be honest with you, because Matthew Weiner is [a] very highly respective guy. For example, if someone wanted to take two characters from my TV series, and put it in their movie, that wouldn’t happen. … But they had a great sense of humor about it, they wanted to do it. But that took a couple phone calls.”
While there were “a couple phone calls” made to jump through the hoops to secure these cameos, Mad Men fans will notice a rather interesting distinction that probably helped seal the deal. If you listen closely through the Unfrosted sequence that includes Messrs. Hamm and Slattery, there’s barely a mention of their character’s names; save for one utterance of, “Roger?”
Even in the end credits to Jerry Seinfeld’s directorial debut, the gents are credited as “Ad Man #1” (Jon Hamm) and “Ad Man #2” (John Slattery). So while we definitely know these are Mad Men’s shining stars at work, there’s just enough room for doubt that could distance the official legacy of Matthew Weiner’s television legend.
To make this whole matter seem even funnier is the meta video that Jerry Seinfeld did with Pop Tarts brand. As one could assume, there probably wasn’t much collaboration between Kellogg’s and Seinfeld’s camps. However, there was enough of a relationship to create this sketch where the President of Pop Tarts (Geoff Pierson) gives the comedian a hard time for making Unfrosted as an unsanctioned comedy. You can watch that bit below:
Leave it to a picture like Unfrosted to inspire some real life stories as crazy and intriguing as the fabricated history of the Pop Tart. While there aren’t exactly any hopes of a Mad Men revival or sequel series in the air, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone at least tried to pitch an idea or two in the week to come.
Though if anything should come from this inspired moment of madness, it’s the suggestion that maybe Kellogg’s should take some inspiration from Don Draper and add that hint of chocolate to some of their fruit based Pop Tart flavors. You know, for those who dare.
If you dare to welcome the comedic chaos of Unfrosted into your own home, you need not wait any longer. All anyone needs is a Netflix subscription, a comfortable seating arrangement and enough time to flash back to their personally haunting origin story. Ok, maybe that last bit is optional, but you get the idea.