 Robert Thompson , a professor of communications and director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University , told The New York Times , " There is something kind of unique about [ SpongeBob ] . It seems to be a refreshing breath from the pre @-@ irony era . There 's no sense of the elbow @-@ in @-@ rib , tongue @-@ in @-@ cheek aesthetic that so permeates the rest of American culture – including kids ' shows like the Rugrats . I think what 's subversive about it is it 's so incredibly naive – deliberately . Because there 's nothing in it that 's trying to be hip or cool or anything else , hipness can be grafted onto it " . In a 2007 interview , Barack Obama named SpongeBob his favorite TV character and admitted that SpongeBob SquarePants is " the show I watch with my daughters " . British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has also said he watches the series with his children . 
