Burger King on Dec. 2 will launch a collaboration with “The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants” that spans recent ads, a special menu, toys, packaging, an app takeover, experiential activations and more, per details shared with Marketing Dive. The latest film within the zany kids’ franchise will likely be released in theaters by Paramount Pictures on Dec. 19.
“Our long-standing partnership with Burger King has all the time been built on daring ideas and shared creativity — but this SpongeBob campaign is next-level,” said Michelle Hagen, executive vp of worldwide partnerships at Paramount Pictures, in a statement. “It’s the final word mash-up of imagination and innovation.”
The limited-time menu features items that draw inspiration from the world of SpongeBob, including a Krabby Whopper on a yellow square bun, together with Mr. Krabs’ Cheesy Bacon Tots, Patrick’s Star-berry Shortcake Pie and a Pirate’s Frozen Pineapple Float. Items can be found a la carte or as a part of a Bikini Bottom bundle. A kids meal is available in a pineapple-shaped box with certainly one of six toys and a crown.
The menu and SpongeBob characters are showcased in playful, bubble-filled ads by agency BarkleyOKRP that can run on TV, streaming, YouTube and social. The effort follows a summer collaboration with Universal’s “How To Train Your Dragon” that drove Burger King’s best King Jr. meal sales in greater than a decade, in keeping with an earnings call by parent company Restaurant Brands International, encouraging the QSR to proceed constructing family engagement.
Burger King saw U.S. comparable sales grow 3.2% in Q3 2025, it’s highest mark in greater than a 12 months. The chain appointed Joel Yashinsky as CMO of its U.S. and Canada business in April after the chief spent greater than seven years as chief marketer at Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar. Previously, Yashinsky worked for nearly twenty years at Burger King rival McDonald’s.
Marketing Dive spoke with Yashinsky about how the SpongeBob collaboration got here together, Burger King’s other marketing initiatives and how the chain is approaching value.
The following interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
MARKETING DIVE: Why team Burger King with SpongeBob?
JOEL YASHINSKY: It’s a natural fit for us for a variety of reasons. One, it’s fun, and Burger King is de facto all about fun. Two, it’s multigenerational. SpongeBob has been around since 1999, so we’re capable of speak to different generations of fans. Three, it ties into what we’ve been attempting to do by way of talking about how playful, fun, interesting and engaging our food is.
How long does it take to bring a partnership like this together?
With great credit to our marketing and culinary team: They’ve been working on this for longer than I’ve been at Burger King. When I got here in, there was a lot of debate about all that’s happening with the SpongeBob promotion and the work that had been done to get us there. It’s almost a year-long process by way of working with the partner, identifying the opportunities, and searching, from a culinary standpoint, at what style of food matches up and creates that fun experience within the restaurants for our customers.
How do you speak to the several generations — millennials, Gen Z and Gen Alpha — which have a relationship with SpongeBob?
We’re developing content for the proper audience in the proper channel. What’s really fun about SpongeBob is that the content type of creates itself. We work very closely with the SpongeBob team, but what we’re really working on now’s elevating [the toy experience] for youths, the social media component that can reach Gen Alpha and Gen Z, and what we do by way of reaching millennials.
For a marketer, it’s a really great challenge to be certain you have got the proper content in the proper channel at the proper time, with the proper message. Everybody will get a kick out of SpongeBob in the way in which we’re bringing it forward, whether it’s the TV business or a TikTok post or what we’re doing on Instagram Reels . But actually, in today’s day and age, the great thing about having the ability to goal your message in the proper channels for that right guest helps make your overall approach more more specific and simpler.
A recent earnings call noted that the “Whopper by You” platform has helped Burger King broaden reach with women and Gen Z. What does that platform mean in your marketing?
We’ve done a lot of labor to place the brand into the hands of our fans and into our guests. The other efforts that we’re declaring by way of our food and specifically our “Whopper by You” promotion — where we’re creating recent Whopper flavors which might be inspired by our guests – is something that I believe is a powerful place for a brand to land.
Whether it’s a Whopper or a shake or an old favorite like Cini Minis, we’re capable of hearken to our guests and be certain we’re focused on what they need. Being focused on what our guests want versus what a celebrity is perhaps talking about… we expect is a much stronger play for a brand.
How are you marketing around value during a tough moment for consumers in a crowded restaurant market?
We know our guests are having difficult times straight away in the case of the general economic environment. Our goal straight away is to offer them a great lineup of selection, flavors and different price points. We’re really pleased with how our Duo and Trio promotion has worked for us since it has great selection and selection. We know guests actually need to have the selection by way of what they’ll get.
That flexibility has been a proven winner for us. We have a great on a regular basis value platform for our guests to utilize while we also obviously communicate more full-margin premium products, like our Whopper by You. We consider now we have premium products as well on our on a regular basis value platform. So how will we balance that out? The communication of that is de facto essential.
We’re also seeing individuals with obvious changes of their behaviors by way of snacking, and so we’ve had a lot of focus on our frozen beverages and desserts. It’s really about providing guests what they need. When it involves value, it’s essential that there’s good value, flexibility and selection. The feedback we’re getting from our guests is that they appreciate what we’re doing.
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