Casual Super Bowl fans may have been surprised to spot SpongeBob Squarepants making a cameo at the NFL showcase.
Maroon 5 and Travis Scott’s half-time show featured a short clip of the opening to Sweet Victory, a song from a 2001 episode of the Nickelodeon animation called Band Geeks in which it’s performed at a sporting event called the Bubble Bowl.
Fans of the show have long campaigned to have the song included in the Super Bowl – even more so since creator Stephen Hillenburg died last year.
And when Maroon 5 snuck a brief clip of Spongebob into their announcement video last month, fans were well and truly excited.
#SBLIII pic.twitter.com/dWKJQDS9ap
— Maroon 5 (@maroon5) January 13, 2019
The anticipation was real as show time neared.
#SuperBowl waiting for Spongebob like pic.twitter.com/1O7MH34g89
— Gabe Ryder (@BungieJumper117) February 4, 2019
But when the appearance came, it left many fans – who had hoped for a whole lot more Sweet Victory – underwhelmed.
Genuinely pissed off. @SuperBowl, you had the audacity to tease us with that clip during Halftime and didn’t even bother to play Sweet Victory. There were over 1M people who signed that petition and you think a 10 sec clip is a good enough tribute to Stephen Hillenberg??? pic.twitter.com/031mYlqcAI
— Jack Larson (@piebro314) February 4, 2019
My reaction after that 5 seconds of Sponge Bob was ruined. #spongebobsuperbowl pic.twitter.com/zhcQTXp4Ij
— Severa L. (@Osirssassin) February 4, 2019
Justice for SpongeBob
— Greg (not) (@GregHeffleyxd) February 4, 2019
You promised us Sweet Victory at Halftime, but all I saw was 𝘾𝙃𝙀𝘼𝙋𝙔 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘾𝙃𝙀𝘼𝙋𝙎𝙆𝘼𝙏𝙀 pic.twitter.com/SqflvkiRnb
— Cooking Mama (@420braiseit) February 4, 2019
We we’re cheated out of this #SweetVictory pic.twitter.com/K8Ah3XNVVW
— SkyMan910 (@skyoli223) February 4, 2019
YOU CAN'T HAVE SPONGEBOB IN YOUR HALFTIMEE SHOW AND NOT DO SWEET SWEET SWEET VICTORY. WHAT A WASTE OF MY EXCITEMENT. #SUPERBOWL
— Christine Riccio (@xtineMAY) February 4, 2019
For others though, any SpongeBob was something to celebrate.
Best part of the whole halftime show was Spongebob opening for Travis Scott
— Josh Hart (@joshhart) February 4, 2019
And for the makers of the show itself, they were just happy to be involved.
Jumping jellyfish! #SpongeBob in the halftime show?! We're honored Goofy Goobers 💛 Thanks to all the fans and @trvisxx! #SBLIII pic.twitter.com/dxTO17KfwG
— SpongeBob (@SpongeBob) February 4, 2019
For any fans who were left disappointed by the lack of Sweet Victory, hopefully this helps.