Internet; we have succeeded. We made Spongebob a staple part of meme culture, and now Nickelodeon have released official toys based on the viral images.
Spongebob Squarepants has never failed the current generation of young adults.
The cheery, colourful, ocean-dwelling gang from Bikini Bottom kept us entertained after school and through weekends, and even when we became too old to watch the show – at least by the standards of Nickelodeon’s ‘target audience’ – we still found a place for Spongebob, Patrick and Squidward in our lives.
Although the show is technically for kids, many of the characters’ actions are transferable to adult life – and thus the Spongebob meme was born.
I’m sure you’ll have come across most of them at some point while trawling social media, but I’ll give you a quick refresher of some of my favourites.
There’s caveman Spongebob:
MoCkIng SpOnGeBob:
Handsome Squidward:
And scary Patrick:
Until now, these images only existed in the virtual world. But Nickelodeon have given us the gift we didn’t know we needed depicting some of the characters’ most shared poses and styles.
The ‘Masterpiece Memes’ are selling on an official Spongebob Squarepants page on Amazon for $21.99 (£17). The collection includes ‘imaginaaation’ Spongebob, complete with rainbow, handsome Squidward, surprised Patrick, caveman Spongebob and mocking Spongebob.
Just think – you could turn real life situations into memes. You could mock someone without even having to say anything – just produce the mocking Spongebob toy, and the rest can be inferred.
The products have received a couple of five star reviews on Amazon, and one pleased customer commented ‘These are so cute and I love the size of them’.
While the toys bring to life some of the best memes, one of them has emerged as a clear favourite among customers. The mocking Spongebob toy has already sold out on Amazon, as people obviously just can’t wait to have a visual aid to assist in their mockery.
Hopefully the product will be restocked soon, because the toys are in high demand!
One excited fan tweeted:
I need an adult to talk me down from spending $20 on a Spongebob meme toy
While another used the toy against itself when they realised mocking Spongebob was sold out:
At least you can still get your hands on caveman Spongebob, surprised Patrick and handsome Squidward – get them before they go!
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.