The Bobs Meme Template

The two consultants from Office Space lean across the desk, waiting for an explanation. Give them a question that exposes how unnecessary a task or process has become.

The Bobs make the viewer feel interviewed. A calm, literal question can make a familiar routine suddenly difficult to justify.

The joke works especially well when the answer is uncomfortable: a meeting about having fewer meetings, a tool nobody uses, or a group chat that never decides anything.

The image comes from Mike Judge’s Office Space (1999). John C. McGinley plays Bob Slydell, on the left, and Paul Willson plays Bob Porter, on the right. The consultants interview Initech employees about their roles as the company considers cuts. [1] [2]

In The Ringer’s oral history, McGinley describes asking for a shirt that was too small, braided leather suspenders, and glasses. Those deliberate costume choices helped establish the corporate assessor seen in this still. [3]

Write a short question across the bottom, below both faces. Their attentive expressions supply the interview setting without needing separate labels for each man.

Pick a process whose purpose is hard to explain. Keep the wording polite and direct; the uncomfortable implication can do the rest.

The uncomfortable question

Across the lower part of the image, below the faces.

• Use one question rather than a full exchange.
• Leave both faces visible.
• Aim at a specific routine or decision.
• Try reading the line in the voice of a patient interviewer.