Bob the Builder has been accused of spreading “Net Zero propaganda” in “woke” advert promoting solar panel installation.
The famous animation can be seen swapping his traditional tools for solar panels and low-carbon heating equipment in a new eco-focused campaign for German-owned energy company E.On.
It marks the character’s first screen appearance in 15 years, with the original stop-motion version once again voiced by Neil Morrissey.
Bob can be seen encouraging viewers to join a Net Zero training academy, aimed at supporting the Government’s target of a decarbonised electricity system by 2030.
The campaign has drawn criticism from Net Zero sceptics, who accused E.On of turning the character into “a woke commissar of climate” and pushing “eco-zealotry”.
Mr Morrissey’s original Bob, last appearing on the screens in 2011, had previously been replaced between 2015 to 2018, by a taller, redesigned version of the much-loved children’s TV character.
Addressing his hiatus in the advert, Bob says: “I downed tools for a while. I got into yoga. Took up bird-watching. Then I packed my bags and went to Australia, where I saw some amazing sights.”
Holding up a newspaper with the headline “UK needs more green skills for clean energy future”, he adds: “When I arrived back home, I saw this in the news and thought: ‘Can we fix it?'”
In the advert, Bob swapped his iconic yellow hardhat for an orange branded E.On energy one
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E.ON ENERGY UK / X
Bob is then shown swapping his familiar yellow hard hat for a red, E.On-branded version as he learns to install solar panels, connect home batteries and fit low-carbon heating systems.
He says: “Now I’m helping with the switch to clean power by using my great new skills so people can take control of their energy and save money too.”
The advert also highlights concerns over a shortage of skilled workers needed to deliver a decarbonised electricity grid by 2030, a policy that has become increasingly politically contentious amid rising energy costs.
However, the campaign has been criticised, with Bob being described as a “woke commissar of climate”.
Bob can be seen fitting solar panels on to a house in the ‘woke’ advert
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E.ON ENERGY UK / X
Reform UK chairman Lee Anderson criticised the campaign, telling The Telegraph: “Bob the Builder has been turned into a woke commissar of climate, flogging the same net zero propaganda that’s sent energy bills through the roof in the homes he used to build.
“This country doesn’t need another army of Net Zero specialists. It needs builders, plumbers and sparkies who can actually keep the lights on. Send Bob back to his proper trade.”
His colleague, Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK, also weighed in, saying: “Go woke, go broke: Bob the Builder has been missing for years. Did his firm go bust, or has he abandoned Britain by going to China and buying their solar panels?”
China produces around 80 per cent of the world’s solar panels.
Shadow transport minister Greg Smith also criticised the advert’s messaging, telling Bob to “leave our kids alone”.
He said: “Whatever happened to innocent children’s TV, telling fun stories rather than cramming in eco-zealotry and political messaging? Hey, Bob, leave our kids alone.”
The backlash follows comments made by Kemi Badenoch in July, when the Tory leader announced announced former Conservative MPs who support Net Zero policies would not be permitted to stand as candidates for the party at the next election.
Responding to accusations this amounted to climate change denial, Mrs Badenoch wrote in The Telegraph it was possible to “accept the science while questioning whether a particular collection of laws, subsidies, targets and prohibitions will actually solve the problem”.
Britain currently has some of the highest domestic electricity prices in Europe, with Net Zero-related taxes, subsidies and system costs estimated to cost the UK around £22billion a year.
An E.On UK spokesman defended the campaign, saying: “Bob the Builder has always inspired people to solve problems and build things that matter.
“Our campaign is about skills, opportunity and helping more people benefit from solutions like solar panels and home batteries that put people in control. Simply combining a home battery and time-of-use tariff can save the average household £255 a year.”
GB News has reached out to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero for comment.