Burger King Employee Fired After Auctioning 10 ft SpongeBob Balloon

PALM HARBOR, Fla. -- A Burger King fired an employee after she refused to return a 10-foot-tall SpongeBob Squarepants balloon her boss gave her, which she then sold for $1,025 in an Internet auction.

Viney Richards, 36, said a manager recently gave her the 50-pound balloon that flew atop the Burger King as part of a corporate cross-promotion for "The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie."

But when she asked permission from the company to be photographed by The Tampa Tribune, which was writing a story about the balloon and its listing on the Internet auction house eBay, she was told to stop talking to the media and to return the balloon.

"I really like my job at Burger King," Richards said. "But I just couldn't give back the SpongeBob."

She said she worked part of her lunch shift Wednesday, and then was fired from her $6.15 an hour job for not returning the balloon. Store manager Paula Kilgore cited her "insubordination" in her termination papers.

http://www.wftv.com/newsofthestrange/3988128/detail.html

Signed,

Single, heterosexual male.

I guess dozens of people are obsessed over it, I don't understand the big deal. The SpongeBobs went from getting stolen with a left ransom note, shot by a bb, melted, and now auctioned.

BK marketing. It worked too, because it became a big news story. Isn't it strange that BK's SpongeBob marketing campaign is getting more coverage on the MSM than the stolen election?

or approx one month of full time wages. She should be able to find another mcJob in that time

"But I just couldn't give back the SpongeBob."

ROTFLMAO!!!

:D

...he just "isn't Arby's material" and let go.

I was very proud of him.

One even had a ransom note...This is insane!

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/news/bizarre/112404_APsn_sponge.html

Here's a little from the link...

Police are looking for a a blow-up figure of SpongeBob SquarePants swiped from a Minnesota Burger King. They've found a ransom note which starts off: "We have SpongeBob." It then demands, "Give us ten Crabby Patties, fries and milkshakes."


WTF is a Crabby Patty???

Get thee to the TV, and turn on SpongeBob, me lad (or lass, if applicable)! :)

It's the premiere offering of the Krusty Krab. A delicious patty, on a golden bun, with all the usual goodies. But no one except Spongebob and Mr. Krabs know the entire Krabby Patty recipe!! it's a secret that Plankton would pay dearly to get, but has so far failed in every attempt!!

What this woman did was dishonest. And stupid.

She said she had planned to give the balloon to her 2-year-old grandson, but it wouldn't fit in his room. So she posted it for sale on eBay, where it was one of dozens listed.

If she'd offered to return the balloon and there were no takers, it would be a different story. Firing her is a bit drastic, though, they could have just asked for the money back.

If she'd kept her mouth shut, instead of looking for her 15 minutes, the company would probably have been none the wiser.

to auction them on ebay.

Duh.