In a press release on November 1, 2005, Nickelodeon officially announced the episode and promoted it as the "Where's Gary" special. According to the network, "It's a sad day in Bikini Bottom when SpongeBob learns that his beloved pet snail Gary is missing and that he may be at fault in the mollusk's disappearance." Marjorie Cohn, Executive Vice President of Development and Original Programming for Nickelodeon, said "Kids love their pets and there's certainly some relatability here in the relationship between SpongeBob and Gary -- skewed though it may be It's fun to see Gary express a whole range of emotions using only his signature 'meow.'"