Also called When Do We Want It? · Protest Chant Comic · What Do We Want When Do We Want It
A cartoon leader asks two questions and a crowd answers. Set up an earnest demand, then use the last response to reveal a contradiction or a very uncommitted audience.
The four panels borrow the rhythm of a protest chant: a demand, an answer, a question about timing, and a final response. The repeated drawings make the words carry the change.
A punchline can undercut the demand. A crowd asking for less procrastination but wanting to start later immediately contradicts itself.
The character comes from Allie Brosh’s Hyperbole and a Half post “This is Why I’ll Never be an Adult,” published on June 17, 2010. Its cleaning scenes show a burst of enthusiasm followed by difficulty keeping up with ordinary responsibilities. [1]
The university project #MUSEUdeMEMES traces the four-panel chant to remixes on Can.vas. The crowd was assembled from the drawing; this chant layout is a later adaptation, not the original blog comic. [1]
The broom-wielding character appears in a story about the uneven effort of adult responsibilities. [1]
The museum records this date for the broader image-remix circulation from which the chant format emerged. [1]
The museum documents the format circulating on Facebook and Instagram with ironic or contradictory replies. [1]
Read left to right across the top row, then across the bottom. Put each line in the white space above its speaker or crowd.
Keep the first and third panels as questions. The second panel names the demand, and the fourth gives an answer that undermines it or changes how we understand it.
Original captions to try with this template.
Original artwork by Allie Brosh / Hyperbole and a Half
The response immediately repeats the habit the crowd wants to change.
Original artwork by Allie Brosh / Hyperbole and a Half
The proposed improvement becomes another reason to keep talking.
Original artwork by Allie Brosh / Hyperbole and a Half
Even the demand for clarity cannot produce a definite answer.
References for this template. Example captions are original.
A Universidade Federal Fluminense project tracing Brosh’s drawing, Can.vas remixes, and Brazilian adaptations.
