Wanted: sponge-nappers

Calling all cars: Be on the lookout for a 10-foot-tall inflatable sponge. Yellow. Last seen wearing square pants.

We imagine just such a call blazed across police radios in Mt. Juliet, Tenn., Gorham, Maine, Little Falls, Minn., and several other towns across America, where promotional characters hyping The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie were recently reported stolen from Burger King restaurants. Wunderman helped engineer the campaign, but the direct-meisters may have gotten more publicity than they bargained for.

According to police in one Minnesota town, a ransom note claimed, “We have SpongeBob,” and demanded “10 Crabby Patties, fries and milkshakes,” says an AP report.

—Posted by Lisa van der Pool

November 30, 2004 | Permalink