CCFC Objects to “Highly Sexualized” Burger King Ad

Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) has launched a letter-writing initiative to dissuade Burger King from using a “highly sexualized” television commercial to advertise its 99-cent SpongeBob Kids Meal. According to CCFC, the ad features Burger King’s mascot “singing a remix of Sir Mix-A-Lot’s 1990 hit song, ‘Baby Got Back,’ with the new lyrics, ‘I like square butts and I cannot lie,” intercut with
images of Nickelodeon’s popular cartoon character dancing on a TV screen in the background. The consumer watchdog has also criticized Burger King for airing the commercial during the NCAA basketball finals. “It’s bad enough when companies use a beloved media character like SpongeBob to promote junk food to children, but it’s utterly reprehensible when that character simultaneously promotes objectified, sexualized images of women,” CCFC Director Susan Linn was quoted as saying. “That Burger King and Nickelodeon would sell kids meals by associating a beloved, male character like SpongeBob with lechery shows how little either company cares about the well-being of the children they target.”

Meanwhile, Burger King has reportedly noted that the commercial advertises “a value-based offer aimed at adults” and is only being shown “during shows targeting adult audiences.” The chain restaurant has released a “completely different” set of SpongeBob promotions for use during children’s programming. See MediaPost, April 8, 2009.