A petition urging Super Bowl organisers to play the iconic “Sweet Victory” song from the hit cartoon series Spongebob Squarepants at the 2019 sports event has received over 1 million signatures.
In March last year, Spongebob creator Stephen Hillenburg announced that he had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The beloved artist passed away on 26 Nov 2018.
A day after his death, 18-year-old Isreal Colunga started a petition to have the song ‘Sweet Victory’ sung at the 2019 Super Bowl.
The song is performed by Spongebob’s crew in what is considered one of the most iconic episodes of the tv show, when the character Squidward invites the residents of Bikini Bottom to perform at the “Bubble Bowl” to one-up his nemesis, Squilliam.
Colunga started the petition last month, hoping that a performance at the 2019 Super Bowl would be a tribute to the late Hillenburg. He wrote:
“As some of you may or may not know, Stephen Hillenburg—the creator of Spongebob Sqaurepants—has passed away recently. As a tribute to his legacy, his contributions to a generation of children, and to truly showcase the greatness of this song, we call for Sweet Victory to be performed at the Halftime Show.”
The petition has since crossed over 1 million views, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which is hosting the 2019 Super Bowl, even posted a gif of SpongeBob and company getting ready for the Bubble Bowl to social media, after the petition gained widespread traction.
It is unclear whether the organisers will fulfill the wishes of the hundreds of thousands of Spongebob and Hillenburg fans and play the iconic ‘Sweet Victory’ song at the 2019 Super Bowl halftime show.
Watch the 17-year-old song, performed on the 2001 episode ‘Band Geeks’ here: