Elements in the opening diner scene matching Norman Rockwell's famous September 20, 1958 Saturday Evening Post cover illustration "Runaway" include the red hobo pack, the white-clad counter man, the white vertically ribbed wall, the Specials chalk board, the chrome bar stools with green cushions, the coffee maker on right, the pie case on left, and the wall mounted radio. Appropriately added for the film is a Kellogg's display. In the Rockwell painting, Seinfeld's place is taken by a police officer who suspiciously eyes the little runaway.
Seinfeld asserted in an interview with Jimmy Fallon that he did not seek permission from Kellogg for using their product names and characters but he would enjoy being sued.
Bob Cabana (Jerry Seinfeld) is given bad milk to smell by milkman Mike Diamond (Christian Slater). He asks "What's the expiration...?" and as he passes out Diamond says, "July Third." This is based on a joke Seinfeld did in his standup act a quarter of a century before, in which the cow that gives the milk tells the dairy its expiration date, and Seinfeld had the cow saying that exact date: "July Third."
Max Greenfield's character "Rick Ludwin" shares the name with real life Rick Ludwin, a long time NBC executive who backed Jerry Seinfeld during the creation of the sitcom Seinfeld (1989). Ludwin was the one who kept fighting for the series when other NBC executives didn't believe it would succeed.
In 2013, Seinfeld told Howard Stern in an interview that the "bit" he couldn't stop hammering away on related to Pop Tarts. His premise was they "can't go stale because they were never fresh". He would keep working on a bit until it is funny. He also denied any interest in doing a movie. But then he says he had one idea for movie ... about the invention of Pop Tarts in 1963 in Battle Creek, Michigan. He also confirmed he doesn't even eat Pop Tarts.