About

Domino Effect, also known as Slippery Slope, is an image macro series featuring a photograph of a man pushing the first tile in a row of domino pieces that gradually increase in size. The images typically feature object labels, illustrating how a small initial event may eventually cause significant consequences.

Origin

On October 4th, 2009, YouTuber and University of Toronto physics professor Stephen Morris posted an educational video showcasing a chain reaction of falling dominoes that subsequently increased in size (shown below).

On July 24th, 2018, Redditor ^[1] rabbitflyer5 posted an object-labeled version of the image in the /r/PrincetonPhysMemes subreddit (shown below).

Spread

In December 2018, a still image of Morris preparing to set off the chain reaction gained popularity as an object-labeling meme. On December 6th, 2018, Redditor liamowen30 posted a labeled image to /r/dankmemes^[2] subreddit. Within two weeks, the post gained over 21,700 upvotes.

On December 7th, 2018, Redditor^[3] anarchy-retreat reposted liamowen30's image to /r/MemeEconomy, encouraging use of it as a meme template. The post gained more than 36,400 upvotes over a two-week period.

Later on the same day, Redditor^[4] RottenMind62 posted an expanded template to /r/MemeEconomy (shown below).

Following the popularity of the initial posts, other versions of the meme appeared on /r/dankmemes^[5] and other subreddits, Instagram^[6] and other social networks.

Various Examples

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References