Suez Canal Excavator Meme Template

A huge container ship towers over an excavator at the water’s edge. Label the ship as an overwhelming problem and the excavator as the small effort being made to solve it.

The scale difference makes the proposed response look inadequate. The small machine can represent limited energy, a quick fix, or one person facing a much larger task.

The picture can also express persistence: the job is enormous, but someone has started. Choose captions that make it clear whether you are laughing at an ineffective shortcut or cheering on a modest effort.

On March 23, 2021, the container ship Ever Given became stuck across the Suez Canal. Images of an excavator beside its enormous bow became a visual shorthand for a small response to a large problem. [2] [1]

The excavator was part of a much larger salvage effort. Boskalis reports that dredging and multiple tugboats helped refloat the ship on March 29. The meme exaggerates the contrast in this photograph; it does not show the whole operation. [1]

Put the problem on the dark upper part of the hull. Label the attempted fix in the light space just above the excavator.

Use a pair readers can connect immediately, such as a disrupted sleep schedule and one early night. Leave the machine and the bow visible so their scale does most of the work.

The overwhelming problem

On the broad upper-right area of the ship’s hull.

The small attempted fix

In the light space above the excavator.

• Put the larger problem on the ship.
• Keep the excavator visible beneath its label.
• Make the proposed fix much smaller than the task.
• Use short labels rather than explaining the whole situation.