Burger King’s “Sexy” Spongebob Commercial
I don’t watch enough commercial supported television to catch most ad campaigns in the wild. And I rarely comment on ones that are bordering on (or living in) offensive territory because a) I’m bordering on outrage fatigue enough as it is and b) the majority of the offensive ad campaigns (save ones for companies like Axe) tend to have a short life cycle. But this Burger King commercial advertising Spongebob Squarepants kid’s meals actually made me double take.
The ad uses the song “Baby Got Back” but Sir Mix-A-Lot sings kid friendly lyrics in this version so that’s not really the problem. Anyone who gets that reference is going to be an adult (or a retro teenager). More disturbing is the fact that there are scantily clad women dancing around sexily in this video. To fit in with the Spongebob theme, square blocks of some sort have been placed down the rear of their very tight costumes. The creepy-as-fuck Burger King mascot proceeds to measure one woman’s square butt and demonstrates the right angles on another woman’s addition. And the commercial ends with Sir Mix-A-Lot saying “Booty is booty”. Um, okay.
What bothers me most about this commercial is that it will be broadcast during children’s programming blocks on network stations. So a legion of six year olds are about to get an eyeful of hypersexualized women shaking their square butts in tiny outfits. And they may internalize the added lesson in the ad- that it is perfectly acceptable to (in this case literally) measure up parts of a woman’s body for inspection.
Update: And there’s an extended version that’s even worse (h/t Shakesville):
In case I didn’t make it clear enough above, I do think the song is funny and meant to appeal to children (on the basic level) and to adults (who know the original song). And the commercial would have been fantastic had they cast a diverse and fully clothed cast of dancers or just people in Spongebob costumes (which would seem to relate more to the product).
What’s wrong with a little innocent booty shaking? I don’t think it’s intended to be sexual, unless you think square butts are sexy. And FYI — this never ran in children’s programming. Networks have strict broadcasting standards, and spots like these can only run on programs where ADULTS comprise a clear majority of the audience. After all, its the adults who they’re targeting — not kids. Parents deserve a good laugh now and then.
What’s wrong with a little innocent booty dancing?
In a club full of adults? Nothing. On a preschool playground? A lot.
I don’t think it’s intended to be sexual, unless you think square butts are sexy
If the “square butts” part was the only point they were trying to make, the women could have been differently outfitted and there could have been men dancing as well.
And FYI- this never ran in children’s programming
I’d be interested to see proof of that. I’m not saying you’re wrong, I just have my doubts. I’ve asked a few people I know with small children to be on the watch for it.
After all, its the adults who they’re targeting
It usually isn’t, actually. It’s taught in marketing classes that if a product has a demographic of children above a certain age, you market straight at the child. Because the child will appeal to the parent’s to try and get it for them.
Yeah, I really can’t believe some of the lyrics to this.
http://www.songspeak.com/you-other-sponges-dont-want-none-unless-you-rock-square-buns/
The lyrics in the extended cut do get into creepy territory a couple of times.
Unbelievable. I happened to catch this last night on the FOX network. I haven’t seen it on any other network – but you can believe that they didn’t intend for this to be on television long. This is a text-book case of shooting for controversial advertising to “get the buzz going” – thus you have the full-length, even more raunchy YouTube video going wildly viral even as we speak. You know young kids won’t stay off of YouTube and will watch it over and over again until they memorize every distasteful movement and lyric.
And I used to like Burger King. No more booty dollars for the BK from ME. That’s for sure.
I think the commercial is hilarious. Gave me a good laugh. However, I don’t think it is an appropriate ad for kids. Granted, most kids will probably get a kick out of it. Most kids don’t even know the song. My kids saw it (6 & 4) and started to laugh. They only caught about 5 seconds of it before I changed it. My kids are not allowed to watch spongebob. I’ve never been a BK fan.
I am an AMERICAN and I have a RIGHT to lots of laughs and CHEAP MEAT! If real authorities like Burger King and advertising executives tell me it bodes well for our sad economy to humorously inspire children to connect women’s asses, with toys and cheap fatty meat then so be it.
Why should I care about those who say it degrades women, I mean if Sir-Mix-A-Lot says Booty is Booty, well, hey, he’s rich and popular and funny right, and he clearly get’s all the cheap meat he wants, so why shouldn’t my kids and I listen to him?
I say, let’s make all that booty fat and tell the kids it’s OTAY!, ‘cause that’s what American Culture is ALL ABOUT! You know what I’m sayin’? Oh, and I don’t have to care if I don’t have to; who says we have to keep kids away from this s**t anyway, I say tell em the TRUTH about who we really are!
Hey, let’s all let the AD AGENCY (Crispin Porter + Bogusky) and BURGER KING know what we thinbk about their funny little commercial:
info@cpbgroup.com
or call call: 305-859-2070 ask for Katie Kempner, Public Relations
BK Corporate Headquarters – 305-378-3000
BK Marketing/Advertising Information Requests – 305-378-7200
BK Consumer Relations – 305-378-3535
HAVE IT YOUR WAY® Cards Consumer Help Desk – 1-800-522-1278
Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, it’s meant for adults! Man, I wish I would have known that grown individuals were supposed want happy meals and Spongebob…. because I am waaaaaay out of the loop. I mean it totally makes sense that magically when this commercial comes on stations for adults ALLLLLL the children DISAPPEAR!! That is CRAZY!!! All this time I thought magic DIDN’T exist hahahahahahahaha
This commercial is sickening. Any commercial or program calling attention to young girls butts on public TV is not acceptable by any standards and should be removed immediately. It’s bad enough we already have to filter immoral programs and garbage shows presented on most channels today, from the eyes of our young children. Now, an all American food chain is stooping to this level to sell burgers. It’s just another example of the deterioration in standards of modern day media and we the people are getting fed up. Where has good programing decision making gone? Where have those who used commonsense, morals, intelligence and good clean humor in the decision making of what is considered appropriate standards, gone?
I guess everyone is just sitting back and letting the evil, that has infiltrated all forms the media business, take over. Well, I’ll tell you what, this kind of trash may sell crap music to our teens, who think it’s cool because they aren’t offered much by way of better alternatives but, it isn’t going to sell burgers to families or people fed up with this sort of thing being used in promotions. Who ever the moron was that allowed this commercial to be released may have just doomed Burger King or at leased drastically hurt sales especially if America decides to boycott them because of it. This just might be the straw that pushes people to their limit. Our whole family as well as most people we know have already decided to no longer be supporting Burger King.
Someone ought to wake up and pull it off the air now, if it isn’t already to late.
Why would anyone even care what Burger King puts either on TV or on their Menus? I don’t eat fast food but maybe once in a couple months & I wouldn’t give BK a dine of my hard earned money. This is a company that hired Sean “Puffy” Combes or P Diddy or P Tard what ever he is today??? To think that one penny of my money would go to that talentless hack by eating at BK is enough to never go there again. Let alone the fact that the food is horrible. Why do you people eat at places like BK & McDonalds? If you stop going they want have the money to spend on advertising!
I think that there is nothing wrong with this. It doesn’t show their actual butts, it shows a book. For all the parents who are scared that their children will start acting like that are wrong. I have a six year old daughter and i do not mind if she where to see that advertisement. I know that my child will not walk around with a book in her pants. Parents should not shelter their kids so much as not letting them watch a commercial. When they get in the real world they will be lost
I know that my child will not walk around with a book in her pants…
The book in the pants part wasn’t among my concerns or points made. I could care less if a bunch of kids did stuff books down the back of their pants and walk around like that. More concerning is that they (particularly little girls) will want to imitate the dance moves. And the vast majority of children that see the ad will add it to the list of hypersexualized images that they are exposed to without a healthy counteraction.
When they get in the real world they will be lost
The ad doesn’t teach how to get a job, balance a checkbook or even about stranger danger. I’m fairly certain that anyone could survive in the “real world” without Spongebob, Burger King, or Sir Mix-a-Lot.
U guys are overprotective. This commercial is directed to adults because, how do u get the meal with the toy? with the purchase of a value adult meal!!! Besides, the commercial isn’t bad, its not even attractive. They are square asses.and girls imitating the dance moves? If you don’t let them see other shows with dance moves similar to this, (cause your a bit of a weenie) then I doubt they will up and want to imitate the square but gals
The only people that should be offended by this commercial are people with flat butts. If anyone has ever watched Spongebob, and I have many times, will know that there have been countless times where we see Patrick’s bare ass and Spongebob’s square butt sans pants. Even Squidward is known to show a cheek or two. I don’t know why Hillenburg does this, but he does and has been doing it for 10 years now. Save your complaints for Nickelodeon, not Burger King. Now back to the commercial…The commercial is totally in line with show. I “focus grouped” the commercial with my 7 and 8 yr old kids and they cracked up. They got the reference. In their minds, the dancing girls were imitiating SPONGEBOB. Which they were, and you would have known that if you took the time to watch the show. The fact that kids can get the reference and you can’t is more evidence that you should take your flat ass to the gym and do some squats.
Signed
Bobby Jimmy
Speaking of asses, Flatbooty, could you possibly be more of one?
I took the link out of your post. Next time you include porn spam in a comment, I ban your IP. You’re not cute, you’re not funny, and if you’re the parent of a 7 and 8 year old and you’ve got the time to troll the web and plonk down long, condescending comments like this, complete with links to porn sites, I seriously question your parenting skills.
Hey I’m a kid and i think it is hilarious and compared to some of the shows I’ve seen on the air this commercial is nowhere near sexually oriented it’s just funny. Maybe some of you parents should listen to your children instead of boycotting burger king or something like that. For god’s sake it’s just a commercial. If your kid are young they won’t even understand it. All they’ll know is that the meal comes with a free toy.
I am appalled. I have 6 children at home. A while back when McDonald’s came out with some raunchy ‘rap’ commercials, we diverted to Burger King. No more. I don’t want my little girls to believe this is appropriate behavior. I don’t appreciate this behavior, nor condone it. I heard they defended themselves by claiming they were targeting the adult population. I don’t know ANY adults inspired to eat burgers by watching ‘bootie’ and pushing ‘kid meals’. Don’t these advertising people realize the kids don’t come by themselves? Adults come to eat and PAY! Wendy’s or pizza, here we come!!!!
Don’t you guys have anything better to complain about? It’s a commercial, cry about it.
Yes, Bob, we at Moue do have better things to complain about. That’s why we have 1,000 posts about things other than this and one about this. But most of those posts are about economics, politics and foreign policy so I can understand if all the big words seemed confusing. Cry about it.
Makes me want to have sex with a sponge. Whats wrong with datttt!?!
What I cannot believe is the reactions of disgust people seem to get from something so meaningless. Because of these types of reactions (allowing the FCC to do your parenting for you)we begin losing our civil liberties.
As a parent you should be able to control what is viewed on TV (use the V-Chip in your TV). What is truly offensive is the death of common sense on the part of people like “Karen”. You don’t like Burger King anymore because of a silly commercial? Super, I’m sure they will be shutting down now.
Quit letting the TV babysit your kids, get off your a** and try being a parent.
I’m sure your kids will all be grateful to you all because of your flimsy attempt to construct a “moral/ethical shield” for them. Thanks to this, when they grow up they will be completely unable to cope with the reality of the country they live in.
Please keep feeding your kids this garbage and maybe they will end up on breathing machines or requiring insulin after their juvenile diabetes sets in.
This commercial aired on NBC yesterday (April 20)in Texas around 4 p.m….children are awake at that time and could have seen it. I think that a commercial about kid’s meals and Spongebob should not have any sexual inuendos what so ever. Of all of the ideas out there, I think that the marketing dept. could have come up with something a little more appropriate for children….come on! I can’t imagine any preschooler knowing this song, which makes me think it is geared to adults. If it was geared for adults only, then it should not be airing at 4 p.m. I do not feed my children fast food including Burger King, and if I did, this commercial makes me mad enough that I would quit going there!
LOL This is the best commercial I have seen in a while. Everybody pointing your finger at BK, FCC, and everybody else-There are 3 fingers pointing back at YOU! Let me guess-Your perfect, no smoking drinking cussing blah blah blah in front of your kids. People take responsibility for your kids, quite blaming others and expecting the rest of the world to raise them.
what the hell people its a commercial just let it go
i love when folks comment on something a week after the last person talked about it telling THEM to “just let it go.”
I think in addition to being disgusting, this commercial is also racist. Why does it have to be a black guy saying “bootys booty?” Really? is that how black guys feel? What a great message for my black sons. What a great thing for everyone else to think they think!
It’s not sexual, kids don’t know what the original song is about. All they know are people with square shaped butts are dancing around and are laughing. Just innocent fun. The people that think it’s sexual are the ones with the dirty minds… probably get turned on by it too… but they’ll never admit to that.
… also, in pirate terms, booty is also referred to treasure. And everyone that’s seen an episode of spongebob knows that there are a lot of pirate stuff in there.
Yeah, I don’t like the commerical either. Bottom line is I’m tired of women being objectified and now your doing it with our favorite little yellow guy and teaching my boys that’s the cool thing to do. Nope. I filed a complaint with the FCC for being too offensive and it took me like 2 minutes. If enough people did that, then bottom line they would pull their commerical. Or hey leave it on air so you have more viewers and then eventually you’ll see BK go out of business.
here’s the link: http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm
this commercial has been on kids tv but it doesnt matter to me its very funny to me and i know the real song and i am only ten i love the sing its hilarious
I’d tend to agree with most parents on this one, being a parent myself. I usually don’t pay much attention to what they watch if it’s Spongebob or Dora, or anything rated G… I guess we’re in a day in age where a G rating doesn’t matter. The commercial is very catchy, not really thought out or it’d be unique, but I sure didn’t expect something like that to come from Burger King or Spongebob. I’m disappointed in both. Children should be informed about the truth of this ugly world at a young age, but it should come from the parents, not commercials. And this commercial is directed to all children that saw it, because if it wasn’t they wouldn’t of used Spongebob. Anyone remember Bevis and Butthead? That was a cartoon made for adults.
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