Can We Fix It?

Submission 28,891

Part of a series on Bob the Builder. [View Related Entries]

About

Can We Fix It refers to a series of three-panel exploitable memes in which the stop-motion animated character Bob the Builder is presented with a project that is seemingly impossible to fix. The meme plays on Bob's theme song and catchphrase, "Can we fix it? Yes, we can."

Origin

The television series Bob The Builder premiered on British television on November 28th, 2008.^[1] The theme song to the show, which plays heavily into the meme, contain the lyrics "Bob the Builder/Can we fix it?/Bob the Builder/Yes, we can."

On July 19th, 2017, the phrase, as well as Bob the Builder_'s logo and likness were used in a three panel exploitable. Redditor PGHWhiteKnight on the subreddit /r/dankchristianmemes posted an image where in the top panel Bob the Builder and the phrase "Can we fix it" appears. In the center frame, an image of a church congregation with the caption "Millenials abandon church, faith, and religion at an alarming rate." The final panel sees Bob rubbing his brow, implying that he might not be able to fix this.^[2] The image (shown below) received more than 625 points (96% upvoted) and 200 comments.

Spread

Over the next few days, people all over Reddit began using the format. Can We Fix It memes appeared on several different subreddits, including /r/gamindustri,^[7] /r/DankMemes^[8] and /r/HistoryMemes.^[9]

Due to its exploitability, this Bob the Builder meme became very common on Reddit. On the subreddit /r/MemeEconomy, at least four different threads were created about the meme, a testament to its rising popularity.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]