"The Contest" was written by Larry David. Kenny Kramer claimed that there actually was a contest in which David and some friends of his took part, although he did not initially want to take part because he thought he could not win it. David won the contest. When David came up with using the idea for an episode of "Seinfeld", he did not talk about it with Jerry Seinfeld for a considerable time, because he thought the episode was impossible for him to pitch. However, Seinfeld thought it was not offensive.