As memes come and go, vying to find a place in our social networks and begging to stay relevant, SpongeBob seems to be one that is—and will continue to—trend for an extended period of time.
In 1999, Nickelodeon brought what is now one of it’s most important franchises into the world with "SpongeBob SquarePants," an animated series about an anthropomorphic sponge living under the ocean with other sea creatures. It’s popularity skyrocketed, allowing the franchise to go beyond the television screen and appear in across mass media, in movies, video games, theme parks and more.
But It’s been almost 20 years since then, and most of it’s original audience has moved on from Saturday morning cartoons to other sources of entertainment.
As most of the population who grew with it, so did their interests. The majority of that population most likely do not watch the show anymore (and let’s face it, it’s certainly not on the same level it was years ago after checking out recent episodes), but he’s somehow found a way to re-emerge in our lives: the internet. If you're someone who occasionally browses the internet, that means there’s a very high chance you’ve seen an image of SpongeBob, Mr. Krabs or the rest of Bikini Bottom’s denizens used for the punchline of a joke typically representing real life situations.
In an age of wireless communication, social networking and the internet, memes have become a big part of it. Working it’s way into our Twitter and Facebook posts, they have grown to become a staple of the internet, from what was previously once a modicum of what social media originally entailed.
But what makes this particular situation interesting is the fact that these memes within the franchise itself continue to stay relevant. The lifetime of a meme is extremely volatile; take "dat boi" for example. Despite exploding onto the internet in April, it’s presence is almost nowhere to be seen today. SpongeBob and friends however, has continued to find gigs for new memes once the last one has run its course. The question is, how?
SpongeBob’s general mainstream popularity, along with it's now adult alumni is what seems to be keeping this trend alive. Many of those who are creating these memes are also the ones who grew up with the franchise. This, along with it's popularity means that memes can be created for a large audience who also can understand thanks to the source material. It's a brilliant formula for creating something that works. Young or old, "SpongeBob SquarePants" is an entity that is known on a global scale. Paired along with the hilarious frames of animation that are in the show itself means there’s an copious amount of SpongeBob related memes just waiting to be created.
A few of the previous SpongeBob memes that have gained traction in the past.
Considering the amount of related memes that has appeared on the internet in the past year alone, there seems to be no end for the pineapple living sponge. For SpongeBob, it’s meme status seems to be like a hydra; although the latest meme may die off as quick as any other, there’s a very good chance that more will take it’s place.
