The 'Pablo: Why Aren't We Alive?' meme stems from a scene in the children's animated series The Backyardigans, specifically the episode 'It's Great to be a Ghost.' In the clip, the character Pablo asks Uniqua a surprisingly heavy question about their state of being, leading to her iconic deadpan response: 'Because we're dead.' The internet adopted this exchange as a perfect template for dark humor, nihilistic jokes, and expressing literal or figurative defeat. It often surfaces when users want to joke about being exhausted after work, losing in a competitive video game, or reacting to shocking news. The meme thrives on the stark contrast between the innocent, colorful world of Nick Jr. and the surprisingly blunt dialogue regarding mortality.