# New Burger King Spongebob commercial: Out of line? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 10, 2009, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-burger-king-spongebob-commercial-out-of-line/492641 "2009-04-10T14:28:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Shawn1767](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shawn1767](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shawn1767)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-burger-king-spongebob-commercial-out-of-line/492641/21 "2009-04-10T20:38:23Z")
I think we saw this on Lifetime during a rerun of Will & Grace last night (April 9) after 10 p.m. Central time. My wife, who normally hates the Burger King guy turned to me after the commercial and said “That was awesome.” I liked it as well. I thought it sounded like Sir Mix-A-Lot, but then I saw him at the end of the commercial, I guess confirming it was him. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-burger-king-spongebob-commercial-out-of-line/492641/22 "2009-04-10T20:52:15Z")
> [@mobo85](#): > > “Guess who I am, honey- SpongeBob Nopants!” Which, by the way, is a pun used on the show at least once - the ‘hooks’ episode. Spongebob’s pants get hooked, while he’s trying to get to the Krusty Krab, and they get ripped off, causing him to rocket forward, naked, to smack into the Krusty Krab’s glass doors, and Pearl calls him Spongebob Nopants. Spongebob is shown both from the back and from the front, the latter with a table placed such that it would be covering any dangly bits Spongebob has - therefor implying, of course, that he has dangly bits to cover. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-burger-king-spongebob-commercial-out-of-line/492641/23 "2009-04-10T21:02:27Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > therefor implying, of course, that he has dangly bits to cover. I know Spongebob’s a sponge, but the word that came immediately to mind was “fishstick.” ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-burger-king-spongebob-commercial-out-of-line/492641/24 "2009-04-10T21:44:51Z")
Loooking at the ad again, I noticed something: It opens “I like square butts and I cannot lie, squid and sea star can’t deny…” Despite his name and he the fact he has only six tentacles, Squidward’s an octopus. (Of course, “octopus” doesn’t fit the rhythm of the song.) ---
**Author:** ![Elyanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5ac83/32.png) [@Elyanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elyanna)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-burger-king-spongebob-commercial-out-of-line/492641/25 "2009-04-10T22:00:58Z")
That is hilarious, and I can’t even hear the audio because I’m at work. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-burger-king-spongebob-commercial-out-of-line/492641/26 "2009-04-10T23:37:53Z")
I think it’s spot-on. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-burger-king-spongebob-commercial-out-of-line/492641/27 "2009-04-11T00:03:53Z")
Why didn’t Wendy’s get on this? Square burgers, square pants…it’s a natural. Me and my sons love us some Spongebob. Sometimes when I watch episodes of the cartoon I long for my days of ingesting psychedelics. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-burger-king-spongebob-commercial-out-of-line/492641/28 "2009-04-11T00:06:09Z")
Some other things I was thinking about regarding this commerical: 1. It’s not really “objectifying women,” as critics claim- it’s poking fun at rap music that objectifies women. A perfectly square butt is not something an actual person would either have or lust over- it’s something that only the square SpongeBob could possess. (And another thing regarding connecting SpongeBob to butts: back when SpongeBob first came on the air 10 years ago, his cartoons were shown during “Slime Time Live,” which was sort of a Bozo-the-Clowny-live-studio-audience-playing-games-for-prizes-in-between-cartoons sort of thing with a Nickelodeon twist. One of the games was “SpongeButt Wetpants,” in which two kids with sponges attached to their butts would compete to see which one could use their spongebutts to fill a bucket with green slime the first, as a “Spongebutt! Spongebutt!” sound effect played over and over.) 2. Even if we take in consideration the fact that the ad isn’t meant for kids, _Baby Got Back_ has been used in kid-friendly material such as _Shrek_. (Of course, DreamWorks’s films toe the line between kid and adult humor, but not so much that it’s patently obscene.) 3. Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? **Opal**! > [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Why didn’t Wendy’s get on this? Square burgers, square pants…it’s a natural. Burger King’s had the SpongeBob license for years- I think this is their fourth or fifth promotion. They seem to do a promotion every time SpongeBob has a TV event- this one is tied to his event “SpongeBob vs. The Big One,” a surfing episode guest-starring Johnny Depp. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-burger-king-spongebob-commercial-out-of-line/492641/29 "2009-04-11T05:48:59Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I think “Baby Got Back” is a funny song (I have a mash-up of it with “Owner of a Lonely Heart” on my iPod) Got Link? ---
**Author:** ![TooSchoolforCool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tooschoolforcool/32/19621_2.png) [@TooSchoolforCool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TooSchoolforCool)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-burger-king-spongebob-commercial-out-of-line/492641/30 "2009-04-11T14:07:11Z")
> [@mobo85](#): > > Looking at the 30-second ad version on the Rolling Stone website, it’s obvious this ad is geared for adults- the tag is “buy an **adult** value meal and get a kids’ value meal with a SpongeBob toy for 99 cents” (emphasis mine). I know, I know, but it still sounds like the perfect deal for the pedophile kidnapper on the run. One 99cent lollipop with every jar of ass cream! ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-burger-king-spongebob-commercial-out-of-line/492641/31 "2009-04-11T17:32:15Z")
Sometimes the mind is a wonderful thing and tries to protect you from things that would most likely damage your psyche beyond repair. I have vague recollections of seeing this commercial and saying “That … was … disturbing” but thankfully I don’t remember much. I am hoping I never have to see it again so my recollection can remain vague. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-burger-king-spongebob-commercial-out-of-line/492641/32 "2009-04-11T19:16:39Z")
The Agents are gonna get me, 'cause I’m too distracted by the woman in the red dress. ---
**Author:** ![zenith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zenith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zenith)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-burger-king-spongebob-commercial-out-of-line/492641/33 "2009-04-11T19:29:01Z")
They should ditch that creepy “King” in their ads. My wife and I are always referring to him as “that goddamn plastic perv!” and I’m sure we’re not alone. This character has peeped in women’s bedrooms, purporting to be selling breakfast sandwiches and now he’s" gettin’ down on gettin’ with"a juvenile male sea creature. He’s just plain nasty! ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-burger-king-spongebob-commercial-out-of-line/492641/34 "2009-04-11T19:44:20Z")
Frankly, I’d be kind of surprised if this is the most bawdy, inappropriate song kids in the audience hear—or sing—on a regular basis. Then again, Dad was a Marine, so I probably heard a few more whoppers as a kid than typical—I think my sister was singing the first stanza of “Yellow Bird” before she was ten. ---
**Author:** ![vannahd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/3e96dc/32.png) [@vannahd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vannahd)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-burger-king-spongebob-commercial-out-of-line/492641/35 "2009-04-15T01:41:26Z")
I think spongebob is a crappy show. I feel it’s almost always laced with far too much inappropriate material for children in the first place and the commercial pisses me off every time it comes on. The song was funny like what? 10 years ago? I never liked it either. Kids are starting sex far too young and I think the ones that see that might just know exactly what it’s all about. It’s ridiculous to have women with squares on their asses and that freaky plastic perv dancing around advertising childrens meals and toys using sexual innuendos. All the tv for kids now is stupid, Spongebob is just one of many thoughtless shows they put on these days. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-burger-king-spongebob-commercial-out-of-line/492641/36 "2009-04-15T02:07:17Z")
> [@vannahd](#): > > I think spongebob is a crappy show. I feel it’s almost always laced with far too much inappropriate material for children…All the tv for kids now is stupid, Spongebob is just one of many thoughtless shows they put on these days. Really? I can hardly think of any “inappropriate material” in SpongeBob. It’s definitely not as innuendo filled as, say, Rocko’s Modern Life was. I think that SpongeBob is a very clever show, and that he is likely to someday be considered a classic character the same way Bugs Bunny, etc. are. Seeing as he’s been around for a decade and still going strong, maybe he already is. (And again, the “square butts” ad isn’t meant for children. I saw the kids ad on Nickelodeon today- pretty much in the same vein as most of BK’s kids ads, with a family on the beach, and the father who always wants the kid’s toys hitting people in the head with a surfboard, and a little animated bit with SpongeBob and Patrick talking about how surfboards like waves and waving hello to it in typical ignorance.) ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-burger-king-spongebob-commercial-out-of-line/492641/37 "2009-04-15T02:13:27Z")
Still my [favorite BK “King” meme.](http://elitemrp.net/index.php?page=wiyg&) ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-burger-king-spongebob-commercial-out-of-line/492641/38 "2009-04-15T05:01:49Z")
I think it plays on two levels. I don’t think kids see it as sexual as much as funny. It’s like “jiggle” TV. When Chrissie Snow from “Three’s Company” jumps up and down it’s funny to an adult but a kid will see Chrissie acting dumb and not sexual, like goofy when they jump up and down. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-burger-king-spongebob-commercial-out-of-line/492641/39 "2009-04-15T12:40:34Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Then again, Dad was a Marine, so I probably heard a few more **whoppers** as a kid than typical… But at BK you can hear many more whoppers! ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-burger-king-spongebob-commercial-out-of-line/492641/40 "2009-04-15T12:41:13Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > \… but IMHO critics are just missing that their square opinions … Ha! [QUOTE=vannahd] I think spongebob is a crappy show. I feel it’s almost always laced with far too much inappropriate material for children in the first place and the commercial pisses me off every time it comes on. The song was funny like what? 10 years ago? I never liked it either. Kids are starting sex far too young and I think the ones that see that might just know exactly what it’s all about. It’s ridiculous to have women with squares on their asses and that freaky plastic perv dancing around advertising childrens meals and toys using sexual innuendos. All the tv for kids now is stupid, Spongebob is just one of many thoughtless shows they put on these days. [/QUOTE] Now gett offa his lawn. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-burger-king-spongebob-commercial-out-of-line/492641.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-burger-king-spongebob-commercial-out-of-line/492641.md?page=3)