As a newcomer to the Canadian market, Paramount+ was competing with subscription streaming giants such as Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney, plus a shipload of individual channels, each with their own monthly fee. In an oversaturated market where Canadians already feel weighed down by too many subscriptions, breaking through wasn’t going to be easy. Barnacles!
Our challenge was to build reputation quickly in a hyper-competitive market and attract new—and loyal—audiences to Paramount+ by driving excitement around key titles.
Enter SpongeBob SquarePants—a character beloved across generations. Older fans cherish the show’s nostalgia, while younger fans adore SpongeBob himself, who has remained one of the most memed cartoon characters online, never losing his cultural relevance. And this year just happened to be SpongeBob’s 25th Anniversary, ahem, Birthday.
At the time, Paramount+ was resonating primarily with older male audiences but struggling to connect with millennials and Gen Z. We knew that while our core audience leans into nostalgia, younger viewers don’t just want to passively consume content—they want to engage with it, be part of the story, and shape the experience themselves.
Our approach to SpongeBob’s big day? A celebration that would bring all his friends together—new and old—by playing on the cultural trend of interactive nostalgia and tapping into key social behaviours.
Drawing on the emotional power of SpongeBob’s most iconic moments, we crafted a ‘Swim Down Memory Reef’, a journey through unforgettable episodes, characters, and catchphrases, updated with modern social tools to make those memories fresh, shareable, and F.U.N.
The campaign unfolded across multiple phases, each designed to evoke a powerful nostalgic connection. Fans jumped in through a custom TikTok filter to find their ‘SpongeBob meme match’ or to join quirky quizzes like Mrs. Puff’s Boating School. Turning memories into playful interactions that let fans dive into SpongeBob’s world sparked a multitude of shares and creative takes on SpongeBob’s most memorable moments.
To deepen the connection—and because there’s always room in Bikini Bottom for new friends—creators brought an authentic, personal touch as they shared their own SpongeBob-inspired content, expanding our reach to a new community of fans. From recreating iconic episodes to remixing favourite catchphrases, fans flooded social feeds with their own under-the-sea creations.
But the party didn’t stop there. Next, we went landward with an IRL celebration where fans could encounter SpongeBob in person through interactive exhibits, character meet-and-greets, and live fan interviews. Whether re-enacting their favourite scenes or snapping selfies, fans turned Bikini Bottom into a real-life, shareable adventure.
And finally, as any SpongeBob fan knows, it’s not a party unless you’re serving Krabby Patties. So that’s exactly what we did.
For the grand finale, we introduced the Krabby Patty Kollab, where local restaurants brought the legendary Krabby Patty to life with unique, SpongeBob-inspired burger creations. Fans lined up to get a taste, with thousands sharing their foodie reviews online. Even Wendy’s jumped in on the fun, proving there’s no such thing as too many Krabby Patties!
“Are you feelin’ it now Mr. Krabs?” — SpongeBob
Our idea was more than a tribute; it was an opportunity to shape and share in the celebration, reuniting fans of all ages and introducing SpongeBob to new generations.
They created, shared, reminisced, and ate their way through 25 bubble-filled years of SpongeBob memories, bringing generations together while welcoming new fans to Bikini Bottom.
By structuring the campaign as a series, we maintained high engagement throughout, drawing both nostalgic fans and a new generation into SpongeBob’s world under the sea.
As Patrick Star always says, “A friend is power.” And fans proved it, making SpongeBob’s 25th anniversary a party that could only be created together.
Across TikTok and Instagram, our 35 pieces of content earned over 4.4M views, with fans eagerly awaiting each release.
The series sparked recognition as the original source of iconic viral sounds, reinforcing SpongeBob’s lasting influence on pop culture.
Our shared ‘Swim Down Memory Reef’ amplified the celebrations way beyond Paramount+’s follower base, sparking widespread fan engagement, with a combined 16K interactions, 76K+ comments, and 292x more shares than average. Fans reflected on their personal connections to SpongeBob, with thousands sharing how they grew up with the series and how our anniversary content captured the essence of their own lives.
SpongeBob’s 25th Anniversary celebrations brought in new fans, growing our followers by 14% on Instagram and 77% on TikTok, and inspired a wave of user-generated content across platforms.
Best of all, the campaign succeeded in celebrating SpongeBob as the vibrant, patty-loving square sponge that he is, ultimately giving Paramount+ a meaningful way to connect with old friends and make new ones.
