The Ghostbusters are in a hospital room, firing at Slimer, who is wrapped in a bedsheet. When they trap him, it's revealed that they were doing this to entertain the children who were staying there, and that they were using low-intensity lasers instead of proton streams so as not to cause damage. Then, a doctor named Dr. Perkins reveals that the hospital is in debt and if they don't receive $50,000 by the end of the week, it will have to shut down.
The Ghostbusters are saddened by this, as they don't have that much money, and they tell Janine about their situation. Then, a man enters the firehouse, introduces himself as Marty Tillis, and reveals he's the president of the Stay Puft marshmallow company. He says he wants to have the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man in an ad, and the Ghostbusters are initially reluctant, but then they agree to it when he offers to pay just the right amount of money they need.
The guys determine that in order to not let the ghosts escape from the Containment Unit, they have to send Slimer to fetch the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. Despite his fear, Slimer does it, but unbeknown to anyone, a ghost escapes, attached to the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man's collar.
On their way to make the ad, the escaped ghost starts attacking the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and scorches Ecto-1's roof. Ray recognises this ghost as the Phantom, with Winston adding that the Phantom can burn through cement. The Phantom then kidnap Slimer and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man follows, but gets stuck between two buildings. The Phantom then corners Egon and Ray in an alley, but Winston and Peter fire at it from their helicopter, freeing Slimer. Then, they free Stay Puft using a rope and some of Slimer's slime.
They then go back towards the set, but the Phantom goes down into the sewers and melts the road. This causes both Stay Puft and the car to get stuck. The Phantom then sticks the car doors shut, gets into a crane, and throws Ecto-1 into the water, but luckily it has a built-in raft and they float to the surface. Stay Puft grabs the crane and helps the Ghostbusters trap the Phantom, with Tillis's cameraman recording it. Then, he writes the check and gives the money to Dr. Perkins.
This episode provides examples of
- Anthropomorphic Food: The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, who is made of marshmallow, plays a large role in the episode.
- Bedsheet Ghost: Slimer wears a bedsheet as part of the publicity stunt.
- Continuity Nod: In the Containment Unit, Ghash (the poltergeist from "Slimer, Come Home") and Precious (the evil bird demon from "Mrs. Rogers' Neighborhood") are seen again.
- Dark Is Evil: The Phantom is dark grey.
- Double-Meaning Title: The episode refers to both the situation being "sticky", i.e. problematic, and the Ghostbusters using the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, who is literally sticky, for business.
- Ectoplasm: Exploited when Slimer uses his slime to unstick the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
- Evil Laugh: The Phantom laughs evilly when melting the street.
- Flashback: Upon spotting Slimer, the Phantom recalls his fateful encounter with the Ghostbusters.
- Help, I'm Stuck!: The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man gets stuck between two buildings.
- Interspecies Friendship: The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man refers to the Ghostbusters as his friends.
- Good Samaritan: The Ghostbusters entertain children in a hospital and then pay said hospital so it doesn't go bankrupt.
- Labcoat of Science and Medicine: Dr. Perkins wears a lab coat.
- Littlest Cancer Patient: Downplayed. The children in the hospital would have been in danger had the hospital shut down, but it's implied that they'll survive as long as they're getting the needed care.
- Mythology Gag: The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from the movie features, and Peter calls Slimer a "spud", which references the scene in the movie where Ray describes him as one.
- Noodle Incident: The Ghostbusters' initial encounter with the Phantom is only seen in a brief flashback from its point of view.
- Oh, Crap!: Ray says, "Uh-oh!" when he and Egon are trapped in an alley.
- Platonic Kissing: Slimer kisses the Ghostbusters several times in this episode.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: The Phantom (an evil ghost) has red eyes.
- Revenge: The Phantom spends the episode dogging the Ghostbusters to pay them back for sticking him in the Containment Unit.
- Sticky Situation: The Phantom melts the street, which leaves both the Ecto-1 and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man stuck.
