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Wow, was it something we said?
If I could clarify, the OP article is correct, in my opinion, when it says
Cartoon star SpongeBob has a large gay fanbase in the U.S. as well as a being a huge hit with children.
and it is also the case that the Wall Street Journal reported
The Wall Street Journal reported in the past that some of the cartoon's reported $500m merchandise sales have come from gay men purchasing branded toys, lunch boxes and even thongs.
which happened almost 10 years ago:
http://online.wsj.co...1478240,00.html
Howver, it is unnecessary for somebody (or a representation of somebody) to
be gay in order for him or her to
be a gay cultural icon. So, the "morality commission" is pobably wasting its time outing Bob.
On the other hand, it is not unusual in the history of American television comedy to include "split level" gags: those which can be understood in one way by children and adult decency campaigners, and simultaneously understood in another way by those who "get the reference."
It is unbelievable to me that the production company was unaware that part of its market was gay adults. It would be equally unbelievable that once they caught on to this, that they did not deliberately cultivate that affluent niche market.
Even if the producers started out as innocent as babes, they would have been in the know after the first marketing survey. And innocence is a rare job qualification for a television producer.