The NFL honored fans’ requests to hear everyone’s favorite sea sponge, SpongeBob Squarepants, belt out “Sweet Victory” at this year’s Super Bowl. However, some fans of the iconic animated series say it’s too little, too late.
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“Now you’ll give it to us?!” one exasperated fan wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“It’s about damn time,” another fan groused on X, “5 years to [sic] late but I’ll take it regardless.”
Fans First Asked for “Sweet Victory” in 2019 To Honor Show’s Creator
Stephen Hillenburg, the mind behind the beloved Bikini Bottom, died in November 2018 at age 57 after a short battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also referred to as “Lou Gehrig’s disease.”)
Devastated fans launched a petition to honor Hillenburg with a rendition of “Sweet Victory” at the SuperBowl LIII Halftime Show. “Sweet Victory” has had permanent real estate in the hearts of “SpongeBob” faithfuls ever since its debut in the 2001 episode “Band Geeks,” the 15th episode of the show’s second season.
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The petition garnered more than 1.2 million signatures, a testament to the indelible mark SpongeBob (and Hillenburg) made on the millennial zeitgeist. And it appeared halftime act Maroon 5 was listening when the pop-rock band shared a teaser of their performance that included a SpongeBob cameo.
Alas, while SpongeBob did make an appearance during the 2019 halftime show, it wasn’t exactly fans’ dream come true. Rapper Travis Scott opened his performance of his 2018 hit “Sicko Mode” with scenes from “Sweet Victory.”
A SpongeBob Super Bowl—Too Little, Too Late?
Five years later, many SpongeBob buffs are still feeling the sting of that disappointment. The NFL’s attempt at reconciliation seemed to miss the mark for a large swath of social media users.
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“cool… it was for Steven, it’s been five years, and it was supposed to be at the halftime show,” one X user commented on the NFL’s post announcing this year’s performance. “you had the broadcast rights to the Super Bowl the year everyone asked for it and you gave the people Travis Scott.”
Another yellow sponge devotee pointed out that the petition requested a halftime show performance of “Sweet Victory.” Instead, the Bikini Bottom bunch opened Nickelodeon’s first-ever broadcast of the big game, part of the NFL’s effort to court a more family-friendly audience.
“It’s not even on any of the channels most people are going to be watching the game on,” the fan complained.
(photo via @CBS on X / Formerly Known as Twitter)
