Social Media Laughs At Wendy's 'Real Life Krabby Patty,' Which Appears To Simply Be A 'Dave's Single' Burger

Since the late 90s, Millennials could only imagine the taste of a Krabby Patty, the famous Krusty Krab burger in SpongeBob SquarePants so tasty it caused Plankton decades of jealousy and Squidward to eat so many that he exploded.

Whatever taste they imagined, it was likely not that of a Dave's Single, the signature burger of fast food chain Wendy's.

Wendy's is running a collaborative campaign with SpongeBob in October, and the restaurant's headline menu items are a "Krabby Patty Kollab" burger and a “Pineapple Under the Sea” Frosty. The "Krabby Patty Kollab" burger is described by CNN as "the same as a regular cheeseburger but with an additional slice of cheese and a 'top-secret' Krabby Kollab sauce."

Does an extra piece of cheese and a smear of mystery sauce make a Dave's Single a Krabby Patty? Social media was unconvinced, apparently of the belief that a Krabby Patty has more exotic and unknowable qualities.

“Look at our Krabby Patty meal!”

Me, a true burger identifier: https://t.co/RBGvq0JmRY pic.twitter.com/GmO3Z2IREH

— Annabelle (@plainwhiteclaw) October 2, 2024

That's it? That's the Krabby Patty?

That's just a Dave's single! https://t.co/yZolWnPzTJ pic.twitter.com/BwK7ZhSfQa

— Funky Studios 📼🦘 (@TheFunkyStudios) October 2, 2024

The official advertising for this collaboration calls this a “Krabby Patty Kollab Burger” and “Burgers and food inspired by the Krabby Patty”.

Much like that one Tenacious D song, this is not the Krabby Patty but only a tribute. https://t.co/5rYeCtyZ0Y pic.twitter.com/u0BOALPf0J

— Ryan W. Mead (@rwmead) October 2, 2024

While the fundamental essence of a Krabby Patty is a mystery on SpongeBob, Wendy's "Krabby Patty" gets several known details about the burger wrong. For example, the "real" Krabby Patty comes on a sesame seed bun. Series creator Stephen Hillenburg also expressly stated that the Krabby Patty is a meatless burger, which will not be the case with Wendy's "Krabby Patty."

Thus, it appears the gussied-up Dave's Single is no real "Krabby Patty," but perhaps creating an accurate facsimile of the magical burger at the heart of SpongeBob is an impossible task.