Domino Effect Meme Template
The image shows University of Toronto physics professor Stephen Morris demonstrating a chain reaction of progressively larger dominoes. The original demonstration was posted in 2009; Know Your Meme dates the object-labeling meme to 2018. The template visualizes a minor trigger leading to a disproportionate consequence. The CSV incorrectly attributes the image to Dr. Steve Mould and a 2017 Veritasium-related video.
Free to try in your browser. Add text, adjust the layout, and download your meme.
Template images may be supplied through third-party sources. Check permission, attribution, and destination-platform rules before publishing. Report a rights or removal concern.
Related meme collections
How to use this meme template
What the Domino Effect meme means
The image shows University of Toronto physics professor Stephen Morris demonstrating a chain reaction of progressively larger dominoes. The original demonstration was posted in 2009; Know Your Meme dates the object-labeling meme to 2018. The template visualizes a minor trigger leading to a disproportionate consequence. The CSV incorrectly attributes the image to Dr. Steve Mould and a 2017 Veritasium-related video.
A man kneels at the right, reaching toward the smallest dominoes in a row that grows in size toward a huge upright block on the left. Slot 1 is positioned at the top left over the large downstream block; slot 2 sits low and centrally over the small dominoes and initiating hand. No text is baked into the image.
How the joke works
Label the disproportionate downstream result in slot 1 (the giant block at upper left), then label the small initiating action in slot 2 (the tiny dominoes near the man’s hand). Read the captions as effect first, cause second: the image itself depicts the chain reaction from the small trigger toward the large result. The pair should make a connected escalation or ironic chain, not unrelated labels.
- Upper-left label on the huge domino: name the large downstream outcome or consequence.
- Lower-center label over the small dominoes near the man’s hand: name the initial trigger or small cause.
Caption examples
- The entire release gets delayed for a week
- One “quick” config change skips review
The small change in slot 2 plausibly produces the much larger consequence named in slot 1; the reverse visual order is intentional.
- The office has a new coffee machine
- A customer asks for a refund
The labels do not establish a causal chain, so the domino sequence adds no joke or meaning.
Situations it fits
- a tiny product decision triggering a large operational consequence
- a minor bug causing a release or support crisis
- one small habit leading to an outsized personal outcome
- a small policy change producing a cascading organizational effect
When this format does not fit
- Do not label slot 1 as the initial push; it is positioned on the giant downstream domino.
- Do not label slot 2 as the final outcome; it sits by the small initiating dominoes.
- Do not give the captions unrelated topics or effects with no visible causal link.
- Do not claim the image is Dr. Steve Mould’s 2017 Veritasium demonstration; it depicts Stephen Morris’s earlier demo.
- Do not use a trivial consequence that undercuts the visible scale difference.
