Tarpon Springs last year scuttled a marketing link to the cartoon star, but a radio host has refloated the idea.
By CANDACE RONDEAUX
Published May 29, 2003
TARPON SPRINGS - SpongeBob SquarePants may be full of holes, but he still holds water in the sponge capital of the world.
Several city officials said Tuesday night they're prepared to give the lovable square star a squeeze if his appearance here could bring more tourism dollars to Tarpon Springs.
"I believe it would be a good, positive event for Tarpon Springs," Mayor Frank DiDonato said.
WFLA-AM 970 radio host Jack Harris first approached the city about forging a marketing link between SpongeBob SquarePants and the town once known as Sponge City last spring. But support for the idea dried up quickly.
Now Harris is back - upbeat, optimistic and apparently as sincere as ever. Tuesday night, several residents and officials told him the idea just might float this time around.
"This is a great opportunity to have this pop icon of mainstream USA associated with the sponge capital of the world," Harris said during a half-hour discussion about the cartoon character's superstar marketing potential.
SpongeBob SquarePants, for those of you who have just returned from the caves of Tora Bora, is the tragically hip square yellow star of the popular cartoon show of the same name. Tales of his trials and tribulations in Bikini Bottom, an imaginary city at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, are aired three times a day on the Nickelodeon cable channel and draw millions of viewers.
"This is the most wholesome character on TV, and he doesn't have a bad bone in his body," Harris told commissioners. "In fact, he doesn't have any bones in his body, because he's a sponge."
Harris lives in Tampa but says he is a supporter of Tarpon Springs. He proposes renting a special SpongeBob costume from Nickelodeon and holding a one- or two-day event in the city - preferably along the Sponge Docks - that would draw fans of the cartoon and tourist dollars to the city.
He said Nickelodeon has already rented out the costume for other events around the country, and the timing couldn't be more perfect with a movie featuring SpongeBob due out in 2004.
Several telephone calls to marketing executives at Nickelodeon were not returned Wednesday. When Harris pitched the idea to Nickelodeon last year, he said the reception was "less than enthusiastic."
City Commissioner Jim Archer said he would support the plan as long as it was a one-time event. He and other city officials said they would consider approving a special event permit for the SpongeBob affair, but it was up to local business associations such as the chamber of commerce or the Tarpon Springs Business Alliance to put together a detailed plan.
Plus, there were still some questions about SpongeBob's synthetic roots that need to be answered.
"Tarpon Springs is the sponge capital of the world," Tarpon Springs Chamber of Commerce president Richard O'Neil said, "but if we start promoting synthetic sponges, I don't think that's appropriate."
The comment created an immediate buzz. The room filled with horrified gasps.
"He's not a synthetic sponge; I promise you that," Harris reassured officials.
Archer attempted to quell the audience's fears.
"I understand it was the grandmother that was the real sponge," he said, drawing snickers from some in the room.
But at least one man in the audience failed to see the humor. Longtime sponge merchant George Billiris said the move would make a "mockery of an industry that is full of pride, that is full of history."
"We have been having a very difficult time retaining the sponge industry," he told commissioners. "You have to be real. You can't be a Mickey Mouse or you will lose what you are. You can't be something else or else you'll be a joke."
- Times researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report. Candace Rondeaux can be reached at 445-4182 or rondeaux@sptimes.com
