SpongeBob Cop Formation

Submission 979

Part of a series on Spongebob Cops. [View Related Entries]

About

SpongeBob Cop Formation is a viral video and reaction meme featuring two characters from the SpongeBob SquarePants cartoon, particularly the show's cops, staring at each other in awkward silence while Beyoncé's song "Formation" plays in the background. The video caption meme format, commonly used to express uncomfortable situations, became a prevalent reaction video on Twitter around March 2020, spreading over the following years.

Origin

SpongeBob Cop Formation originated from the SpongeBob SquarePants season three episode four, titled Nasty Patty, which aired on March 1st, 2002. In the scene, SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs are inside a police car trying to hide a "crime" they just committed. The police officers look at the backseat to ask if they are okay, which is shown in the post uploaded on Facebook^[1] by Nickelodeon on October 11th, 2021. The post (shown below) garnered over 2 million views and 50,000 likes in two years.

On June 4th, 2019, Twitter^[2] user @rihodd posted the earliest known instance of the clip, cropping the police officer characters in an edited video (shown below) to look like they are staring at each other. The video is accompanied by Beyoncé's song "Formation," which garnered almost 80,000 likes and 17,900 retweets in four years.

An earlier version of the meme format was uploaded on YouTube^[6] by user youregoinginthesoup5570 on March 2nd, 2019, which garnered almost 130,000 views and 5,400 likes in four years. (shown below)

Spread

The most viral Spongebob Cop Formation meme appeared on Twitter around March 2020. On March 12th, 2020, Twitter user @reacsforgays^[3] posted a different clip from the same SpongeBob SquarePants episode, this time showing the female cop holding a drink and staring at a female customer. The post (shown below) amassed roughly 3108 likes and 69 retweets in three years.

The meme became a popular reaction video on Twitter in subsequent years, typically used to express moments in which a person ends up in an uncomfortable situation. For example, on July 12th, 2023, Twitter^[4] user @falameuanjo tweeted about an embarrassing situation she experience at a restaurant (shown below), which garnered over 4,000 likes and 108 retweets in six days.

On January 17th, 2022, Twitter^[5] user @cultgallgher posted a version of the meme featuring a clip from the HBO show Euphoria. The post (shown below) received roughly 30 likes in a year.