Jon Hamm Paid Homage To His Mad Men Character In A Hit Animated Comedy

Although Jon Hamm became a household name through his dramatic lead role in "Mad Men," he's since revealed himself to be a particularly talented comedic actor. From his four fantastic "Saturday Night Live" hosting gigs to his recurring roles on "30 Rock," "Good Omens," and "Curb Your Enthusiasm," Hamm's been down to get real silly with it. 

In addition to playing comedic original characters, Hamm's been happy to reprise his ad man role for comedic effect. Most recently, he returned to play Draper in "Unfrosted," that bizarre Poptart movie from Jerry Seinfeld last year. But perhaps his strangest Draper reappraisal came seven years before that: in 2017, he guest-starred in an episode of "SpongeBob SquarePants." He voiced ad exec Don Grouper, a handsome yet shady ad man who wants to help Mr. Krabs sell frozen Krabby Patties.

Despite the obvious parallels to his "Mad Men" character, Don Grouper is not a perfect stand-in for Don Draper. He doesn't cheat on his wife once throughout the entire episode, and by the second half, he reveals himself as a money-hungry sellout who's willing to ruin the Krabby Patty formula for the sake of sheer profit. Don Draper was many things, but he was not someone who'd do this. Draper was always chasing something real, and he always disparaged business tactics that prioritized quantity over quality. Draper had an emotional breakdown over his lifelong connection to Hershey's chocolate; he would never push Hershey's to water down its recipe to make some extra bucks. Don Grouper appears to be less of a Don Draper stand-in and more of a vehicle for critiquing corporate sell-out culture in general.

But despite the lack of "Mad Men" accuracy, Nickelodeon really leaned into the "Mad Men" parallels for the marketing of this episode. Their promos were animated like the "Mad Men" opening credits, except this time it was SpongeBob falling off that building while RJD2 blasted in the background. It was the sort of thing that makes you wonder: who was this for? It's hardly like the average young "SpongeBob" fan was an appreciator of the slice-of-life AMC period drama being referenced here. 

Of course, this would hardly be the first time "SpongeBob" made a joke that went over its target audience's head. The show has made jokes about SpongeBob watching porn in his living room, about Squidward wanting to hang himself, and it even featured one very questionable prison assault joke.

Most of these jokes went over the kids' heads, but of course, they weren't there for the kids. They were there to endear the show to the parents in the room, likely under the logic that if the parents were having a good time, they'd probably let their kids watch the show more often. Classic era "SpongeBob" (those first 3-4 seasons, really) was great at understanding the importance of winning over any parents in the room, to the point where they didn't just include dirty jokes but constant references to popular entertainment aimed at adults. Take, for instance, that wild reference to "2001: A Space Odyssey" in season 3.

As a kid, I had no idea what was going on here, but I was still able to appreciate the scene for seeming creepy and random. At the time, it was funny because it was weird and made no sense. It was only years later that I'd realize there was a method to the "SpongeBob" writers' madness. 

Other shows and films would take a similar approach (mainly "Shrek" with is many, many adult references) but the most ridiculous example of this was probably John Waters' cameo in "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked," where Alvin talks to him about having seen "Pink Flamingos," an NC-17 movie that was deeply transgressive and controversial in its time. At least with "SpongeBob," we can sort of believe that a kid may have seen a bit of "Mad Men" or "A Space Odyssey" before watching the episode referencing them, but there's no way any child "Chipmunk" fans in 2011 were familiar with "Pink Flamingos." At least, I sure hope not.