With the Sonic the Hedgehog big-screen adaptation releasing later this week, a lot of fans are reflecting on the massive trailer debacle that took place early last year. With the first official look at the highly-anticipated video game adaptation leading to numerous jokes and viral campaigns aimed at the poor design of the titular character, many fans were surprised when the Sonic movie was delayed with the assurance that Sonic's look would be completely reworked to incorporate these complaints. Naturally, even with the significantly better redesign now ready to hit theaters, many fans haven't forgotten what was originally meant to hit screens last November.
It seems fans aren't the only ones still thinking about the horrific interpretation of Sonic posed before the Sonic the Hedgehog movie redesign, with the official SpongeBob SquarePants Twitter page chiming in with its own meme mocking the situation. Posted with the caption, "if SpongeBob were the #Sonicmovie," the meme depicts both a terrifyingly realistic SpongeBoib face with human eyes and teeth alongside a screenshot of what the actual adorable cartoon character looks like.
As far as brand interaction goes, this is a particularly funny case of an official Twitter account cashing in on a current viral trend, especially as Sonic and SpongeBob are both iconic mascots of their retrospective mediums. The post itself has pulled in a whopping 28,000 likes, with fans clearly finding SpongeBob's sly dig at the speedy blue hedgehog to be incredibly amusing. In fact, the joke has already attracted a number of responses from fellow meme accounts as well, with popular Twitter user SpongeBob Facts receiving 2000 likes for asking "what the hell is this" below the image. Clearly, there's somebody who knows exactly how to amuse the meme community behind the official SpongeBob account.
However, this isn't the first time an official branded account has gotten involved with meme culture. Wendy's is renown for playing into viral memes, jokingly mocking its competitors online at any opportunity, while Planters recently sought to mimic the success of the Baby Yoda meme by switching Mr. Peanut out for the new "Baby Nut," which was just a baby version of the iconic mascot.
With Sonic's movie adaptation so close to release, having the endorsement of accounts like SpongeBob's will no doubt help to publicize the movie, regardless of the fact the post is of a mocking nature. While the film no doubt was set back by its decision to redesign the character, it meant that a number of the game's most avid supporters are more excited than ever to finally see it knowing that the studio care about getting the iconic mascot right. Hopefully, it can wow everyone when it drops in just a few day's time.
Sonic the Hedgehog premieres in theaters on February 14.