Got Milk?
The SpongeBob SquarePants Got Milk? commercial was a commercial aired in 2001 as part of the Got Milk? advertising campaign. The commercial featured Nickelodeon characters SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star. While a print version of the advertisement was available online, the television commercial remained lost until being discovered by alitek12 on the Lost Media Wiki's Discord server on October 15, 2022.
Plot
The commercial features SpongeBob and Patrick drinking chocolate milk in SpongeBob's kitchen. Chocolate milk mustaches form on top of their mouths, though SpongeBob's quickly fades as he absorbs the milk. He keeps drinking the milk and grows increasingly exasperated as the milk continues to be absorbed, while Patrick's remains. Finally, he puts the entire glass over his head, which briefly works before he absorbs the entire glass of milk. The commercial ends with the tagline "Got Chocolate Milk?"Airings
An archived Bloomberg newswire article reported that the commercial first aired on Nickelodeon on February 24, 2001, with the print version of the ad debuting in March editions of Sports Illustrated for Kids, Disney Adventures, and Nickelodeon Magazine. At one point in the search, it was assumed that the commercial aired during the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Wormy / Patty Hype," which premiered on Nickelodeon on that day. However, this was later disproven due to the regulations set forth by the Children's Television Act of 1990, which prohibits networks from broadcasting commercials featuring children's television show characters during the shows themselves.The Search
On May 4, 2021, Reddit user u/MissBarker93 posted a thread about the commercial. The thread contained a link to a December 2010 SpongeBuddy Mania thread which contained the print ad. One sbmania.net user recalled seeing the television version of the ad, with this being the earliest known mention of it online other than the Bloomberg article. A screencap of the commercial from a digitized VHS rip was also uncovered, purportedly having been anonymously uploaded to the Nickstory Discord server. The source of the screenshot remains unknown.
The Lost Commercials Foundation began their search for the commercial on August 30, 2022. On September 15, YouTuber LSuperSonicQ created a video featuring the commercial.
Ultimately, the commercial was found by alitek12 (also known as The Toon Archivist) on a VHS tape containing a 2001 Nick Jr. broadcast. A low-quality version was uploaded on October 14, with a properly digitized version being made available the following day.