People talk a lot about how long-running One Piece is, but the truth is that SpongeBob has been with us even longer: it premiered on Nickelodeon three months before Luffy and company’s anime, although (to be fair) it has a quarter as many episodes: 342 compared to 1,176 and counting. It was only a matter of time before these two titans of animation, recognized all around the globe, came together in an impossible crossover.
Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Monkey D. Luffy!
They won’t do it in a special episode or a theatrical release, but in a collaboration for McDonald’s in several countries… which doesn’t include Japan, for some reason. Apparently, they haven’t reached a licensing agreement, and it’s strange, because this is one of the most Japanese things possible. Something kawaii mixed with One Piece? If you take a stroll through Tokyo, you’ll see that it’s nothing unusual.
The collection, available in Happy Meals since September 15, has SpongeBob as Luffy (both normal and in Gear 5), Patrick as Zoro, Plankton as Usopp, Sandy as Nami, Gary as Chopper, Squidward as Sanji, Pearl as Robin, Larry as Franky, Smitty as Brook and Mr. Krabs as Jinbe. As you can see, in the end they were running out of characters, but even so they’ve made it to 15 by pulling in strange mashups like the Flying Dutchman as Blackbeard and Mermaid Man as Garp. It’s going to be a huge hit, right?
we’ve truly entered the great Happy Meal era. SpongeBob x One Piece coming 9.15 pic.twitter.com/W4sT4KhulZ
— McDonald’s (@McDonalds) August 31, 2026
It’s pretty incredible, honestly. And considering that right now on the kids’ menu in half the world they’re handing out a crossover between Hello Kitty and Godzilla, they’ve clearly reached the obvious conclusion: to sell more burgers, they need more impossible crossovers. That way, anyone can sell a product of questionable quality.
