BK: How 26-Year Franchise Reaches Millennials, Gen Z, Gen Alpha Together.
SpongeBob's 26-Year History Creates Multigenerational Marketing Opportunity
Burger King launched a collaboration with "The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants" on December 2, 2024, spanning new ads, a special menu, toys, packaging, an app takeover, and experiential activations according to Marketing Dive's report. The campaign ties to Paramount Pictures' December 19 theatrical release and leverages SpongeBob's 26-year franchise history—the show debuted in 1999, creating shared cultural touchpoints for millennials who watched as children, Gen Z who grew up with reruns, and Gen Alpha currently consuming the content.
Joel Yashinsky, Burger King's CMO who joined in April 2024 after more than seven years at Applebee's, explained the strategic fit: "It's multigenerational. SpongeBob has been around since 1999, so we're able to speak to different generations of fans." The collaboration required nearly a year of development according to Yashinsky, with marketing and culinary teams working on the partnership before his arrival at Burger King.
The limited-time menu features items drawing inspiration from SpongeBob's world, including a Krabby Whopper on a yellow square bun, Mr. Krabs' Cheesy Bacon Tots, Patrick's Star-berry Shortcake Pie, and a Pirate's Frozen Pineapple Float. Items are available individually or as part of a Bikini Bottom bundle, with kids meals packaged in pineapple-shaped boxes containing one of six toys and a crown.
Summer Dragon Collaboration Drove Best Kids Meal Sales in a Decade
The SpongeBob campaign follows Burger King's summer collaboration with Universal's "How To Train Your Dragon" that drove the chain's best King Jr. meal sales in more than a decade, according to a Restaurant Brands International earnings call reported by Marketing Dive. This performance validated the family engagement strategy and encouraged continued investment in IP partnerships that appeal across age demographics rather than single-generation franchises.
Burger King saw U.S. comparable sales grow 3.2% in Q3 2025, the highest mark in more than a year according to the report. The growth coincided with Yashinsky's appointment as CMO in April 2024, bringing nearly two decades of McDonald's experience plus seven years leading Applebee's marketing to a chain seeking to rebuild momentum through pop culture partnerships and value positioning.
The Dragon collaboration demonstrated that family-focused campaigns drive traffic and check size when executed with culinary creativity and promotional merchandise that appeals to children. Kids meals generate multi-person visits, increase average transaction values through adult meal additions, and create positive brand associations during formative years that influence future purchase behavior when children age into independent consumers.
Content Tailoring by Platform Reaches Each Generation Differently
Burger King developed platform-specific creative to reach millennials, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha through their preferred channels. Yashinsky explained the approach: "We're developing content for the right audience in the right channel. What's really fun about SpongeBob is that the content sort of creates itself. We work very closely with the SpongeBob team, but what we're really working on now is elevating [the toy experience] for kids, the social media component that will reach Gen Alpha and Gen Z, and what we do in terms of reaching millennials."
TV commercials reach millennials who grew up with traditional broadcast viewing habits, while TikTok and Instagram Reels target Gen Z's social-first consumption patterns. Gen Alpha engages through toy experiences and app integrations that blend physical and digital play. The ads by agency BarkleyOKRP showcase menu items and SpongeBob characters in playful, bubble-filled creative running on TV, streaming, YouTube, and social according to Marketing Dive.
The platform strategy recognizes that generational cohorts consume media differently despite sharing affinity for the same IP. Millennials tolerate longer-form content and respond to nostalgia framing, Gen Z prioritizes snackable social content with meme potential, and Gen Alpha expects interactive experiences that extend beyond passive viewing. Effective multigenerational campaigns deliver unified brand messaging through format variations optimized for each platform's native behaviors.
Whopper by You Platform Put Brand Control in Customer Hands
A recent earnings call noted that Burger King's "Whopper by You" platform helped the chain broaden reach with women and Gen Z according to Marketing Dive. The program creates new Whopper flavors inspired by customer suggestions, positioning the brand as responsive to audience preferences rather than dictating menu innovation from corporate test kitchens.
Yashinsky described the strategic positioning: "We've done a lot of work to put the brand into the hands of our fans and into our guests. Whether it's a Whopper or a shake or an old favorite like Cini Minis, we're able to listen to our guests and make sure we're focused on what they need. Being focused on what our guests want versus what a celebrity might be talking about… we think is a much stronger play for a brand."
The approach contrasts with celebrity endorsement strategies that dominated QSR marketing for decades. Rather than paying athletes or entertainers to promote products, Whopper by You derives credibility from actual customer participation in product development. This democratic model resonates with younger consumers skeptical of traditional advertising and more influenced by peer recommendations and user-generated content than celebrity spokespeople.
Value Positioning Balances Choice, Flexibility, and Premium Products
Burger King's value strategy centers on its Duo and Trio promotion providing choice and selection at multiple price points, according to Yashinsky's comments to Marketing Dive. The approach recognizes that consumers facing economic pressure need affordable options without limiting the brand to only value-tier products that erode premium positioning and margin structure.
"We know our guests are having challenging times right now when it comes to the overall economic environment," Yashinsky stated. "Our goal right now is to provide them a great lineup of choice, flavors and different price points. We're really pleased with how our Duo and Trio promotion has worked for us because it has great choice and selection. We know guests really want to have the choice in terms of what they can get."
The platform maintains an everyday value tier while simultaneously communicating premium products like Whopper by You through separate marketing efforts. Burger King also focuses on frozen beverages and desserts targeting snacking occasions as consumer behavior shifts toward multiple smaller eating events throughout the day rather than traditional meal periods. The flexibility in messaging and product architecture allows the brand to capture both budget-constrained and premium-seeking customers without confusing positioning.
What’s Next
License Properties With 20+ Year Histories That Span Generational Cohorts: Target entertainment IP launched between 1995-2005 that millennials experienced as children, Gen Z discovered through streaming, and Gen Alpha currently consumes through reboots.
Develop Platform-Native Creative Not Universal Assets Reformatted: Create distinct content for TV, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube that respects each platform's format expectations rather than repurposing 30-second TV spots across channels.
Build Year-Long Partnership Timelines For Major IP Collaborations: Begin licensing negotiations, product development, and campaign planning 12 months before launch to ensure culinary quality and creative depth rather than rushed executions.
Prioritize Family-Driving Promotions That Increase Transaction Size: Focus on kids meal innovations that bring multiple family members into stores, generating higher check averages than individual adult visits alone.
Balance Value Platforms With Premium Product Innovation: Maintain separate marketing streams for affordability-focused promotions and premium offerings to capture budget-constrained and quality-seeking customers without positioning confusion.
Bottom Line: Nostalgia Works When Properties Span Generations Rather than Target One.
SpongeBob's 26-year franchise history creates simultaneous appeal for millennials (now parents aged 28-43), Gen Z (currently 12-27), and Gen Alpha (under 12), solving the multigenerational marketing challenge that single-decade properties cannot address. Burger King's summer Dragon collaboration drove the best King Jr. meal sales in over a decade, validating that family-focused IP partnerships increase traffic and transaction size more effectively than adult-targeted celebrity endorsements or limited-time menu items alone.
The campaign required nearly 12 months of development including culinary innovation, toy design, packaging creation, and platform-specific creative production—demonstrating that effective IP collaborations demand significant lead time and cross-functional coordination rather than quick licensing deals with superficial product tie-ins. Yashinsky's emphasis on customer-driven innovation through Whopper by You reflects broader strategic positioning: younger consumers trust peer recommendations and participatory brand experiences more than celebrity spokespeople, making co-creation platforms more credible than traditional endorsement structures.
The 3.2% Q3 comparable sales growth—Burger King's highest in over a year—coincided with this family engagement and IP partnership strategy, suggesting that nostalgia properties with multi-decade recognition drive measurable business results when paired with genuine product innovation and platform-optimized creative execution.
The SpongeBob menu isn't just kids meal toys and branded packaging—it's culinary development that brings franchise elements to life through yellow square buns and character-inspired flavors that justify the partnership beyond logo placement, creating Instagram moments and family conversation that extends campaign reach beyond paid media into earned social amplification.
