Butt Out/Trivia

Trivia

 * This episode defends smokers, although both Trey Parker and Matt Stone are non-smokers (Stone admits that he used to be, but quit). They explained that they did the episode mostly because they think Rob Reiner is a "big fat ass", and because they were tired of loved ones being assaulted by people criticizing them for smoking.
 * Rob Reiner was previously criticized for "using children to pull at the heart strings of the public" in the episode "Gnomes", but this time a full episode is devoted to it.
 * When this episode first aired on Comedy Central, it ended after Cartman groaned over being grounded. All reruns and the DVD version include a short scene after that where Stan tells Kyle that the boys learned their lesson, but Kyle, upset over no one heeding his warning about avoiding the big showdown near the end, calmly mutters, "No, we didn't, dude. No we didn't" and walks away.
 * Cartman refers to the Kyle shying away from doing the commercial by calling him a liar and using the something called the Serbian Jew Double-Bluff
 * Creator Trey Parker admits to a slight feeling of guilt in portraying Reiner so mercilessly, claiming he liked some of his earlier movies and was inspired by Spinal Tap to fuse music and comedy.
 * At the end, Cartman says "Aw, awww!" which is usually Stan's line.
 * During the credits, a special disclaimer was briefly shown, stating that this episode "depicts entirely fictional situations that are products of the writers' imaginations."

References to Popular Culture

 * The people working for Rob Reiner bear a resemblance to those the character Winston Smith describes working at the Ministry of Truth in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.
 * The man who first tells Cartman to eat the cupcake greatly resembles Gríma Wormtongue or Dracula, and even shares some of his characteristics. His black trench coat with an overly stiff collar and clique logo on the heart is a direct reference to Pink from Pink Floyd The Wall. Notably, Pink's character and his clique (the walking hammers) were also Fascist.
 * Reiner's cry of "My goo! My precious goo!" is also reminiscent of Oogie Boogie's final words in Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. His death is similar to that of the wicked witch in The Wizard of Oz.
 * Rob Reiner tells the tobacco company "You've just been Reiner'd!", a reference to Punk'd and The Jamie Kennedy Experiment.
 * Amongst the crowd of people welcoming Reiner is a man with a sign reading "Welcome Meathead". This is a reference to Reiner's most well known performance as Mike Stivic in All in the Family, where he was called "meathead" by Archie Bunker.