History Main / IfYouCanReadThis

** In ''End of Evangelion'', Misato reads what really happened at NERV. [[FreezeFrameBonus People who paused at the right time]] will see what she's ''really'' reading: The history of Gainax!

** The dedication plaque on board the Enterprise-D that the engines were built by [[BuckarooBanzai Yoyodyne]], and listed many of the producers and writers as members of the engineering team who designed and supervised its construction.

** [[BuckarooBanzai The Banzai Institute]]

** [[TheJetsons Spaceley Sprockets]]

** [[BuckarooBanzai Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems]]

* In the [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Merrie Melodies]] cartoon "Lights Fantastic" (Freleng, 1942), a neon and lights sign displays a vision test, courtesy of eye doctor [[IncrediblyLamePun I.C. Spots]].

** The episode “The Neutral Zone” has Troi pull up the family tree of Clare Raymond, a woman from the 1990s who has just awoken from cryogenic status. It seems not only are six of her ancestors actors who played [[Series/DoctorWho a certain Doctor]], but also among them are characters from such diverse sources as ''TheMuppetShow'', ''Series/{{MASH}}'', and ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show''. Eventually, it seems the designers of the tree simply gave up and began tacking "Raymond" onto the names of ''TNG'' cast members ("Brent Spiner Raymond", for example.)

* In an early episode of ''Anime/GundamWing'', the computer screens with Heero's medical data show text from the readme file for Photoshop's TWAIN plugin.

* A computer monitor in ''MirrorsEdge'' displays a humorous personal email of someone saying he pities whoever has to monitor his porn usage.

* In the [[LooneyTunes Merrie Melodies]] cartoon "Lights Fantastic" (Freleng, 1942), a neon and lights sign displays a vision test, courtesy of eye doctor [[IncrediblyLamePun I.C. Spots]].

* This ultimately lead to a "[[ThrowItIn Sure, Why Not?]]" moment on ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise''. ''Enterprise'' was the first ''Trek'' series shot and broadcast in true HighDefinition, which meant that LCARS computer readouts were legible on screen. The production crew didn't think this was the case and proceeded to write out a complete history for Captain Archer on a computer screen for an episode involving time travel and the infamous MirrorUniverse. Details included how he was eventually promoted to Admiral, was elected President of the Federation, and died peacefully in his sleep the day after he witnessed the launch of the ''U.S.S. Enterprise'' NCC-1701. After fans posted screenshots of the entries online, the writing staff was left with no choice but to canonize the details, whether they'd planned to or not.

* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' has graffiti all over the place. In ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'', you can even find some by [[DeadRising Frank West]]!

* The various background signs, boxes, and papers in ''{{Rugrats}}'' often contain amusing jokes and gags, as well as {{Continuity Nod}}s. One memorable box is for "Unsweetened sugar."
* Invoked in ''{{Futurama}}'', where Amy mentions that old fashioned CRT [=TVs=] can't resolve her dirty tattoo. Of course, neither can plasma/LCD [=TVs=].

* In [[Anime/FullMetalAlchemist the 2003 anime version]] of ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', any book on alchemy shown onscreen is copied from DungeonsAndDragons player's manuals on alchemy. Evidently, Amestris runs on a D20 system.

* In an early episode of ''GundamWing'', the computer screens with Heero's medical data show text from the readme file for Photoshop's TWAIN plugin.

* In one ''AxisPowersHetalia'' strip, HidekazHimaruya included this small note as if deliberately for scanlators:

* In an episode of ''TheSimpsons'' a trashy news program runs a list of errata that scrolls past at a ridiculous speed. [[FreeseFrameBonus Freeze frame reveals]] the message "If you can read this you have no life."

* ''AmericanBeauty'' has a sign in Lester Bernam's cubicle at work that simply reads "Look Closer." This was just something the set designer just felt like decorating the set with. Director Sam Mendes noticed this after seeing the footage in the editing room, and the phrase "Look Closer" would eventually become the movie's tagline.

* In ''SinCity'', the newspaper that shows Marv arrested for Cardinal Roark's murder has interesting articles: namely, transcripts for the opening scene (The Babe Wore Red) and the first few scenes of Marv's story, "The Hard Goodbye" - with a byline of F. Miller.

* There is a eye chart in the background in ''ReturnOfTheLivingDead'' where the letters read "Burt is a slave driver and a cheap son of a bitch who's got you and me here."
* The newspaper articles in ''FightClub'' all have the same nonsense text, whether the headline is "Fountain Befouled" or "Feces Catapault Seized" or "Stolen Lab Monkey Found Shaved".

** There was an episode where someone calls up a list of names on the display, and most of the list comprises of the actors who have played [[Series/DoctorWho a certain Doctor]].

* ''SonicColors'' plays this straight. In the final cutscene Tails translates Yacker's speech on Miles electric, which is in Hexadecimal format. The first two lines of hex translate exactly to what Yacker was saying. But the additional bit at the bottom display reads, "If you can read this, you are a geek."

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* In-universe example: Vaarsuvius of ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' [[RunningGag is fond of]] inscribing [[AmbiguousGender his/her]] Explosive Runes[[note]]Basically, a way of creating enchanted text that [[StuffBlowingUp explodes when read]][[/note]] spell with extremely small words, such that its intended victims have to lean ''really'' close to read them, with [[HilarityEnsues hilarious]] results. Turned into a CrowningMomentOfAwesome when s/he uses it on [[spoiler: Xykon's phylactery]], gives it to his/her raven {{Familiar}}, and has it flown out over [[spoiler:the [[EldritchAbomination Snarl]]'s rift]]. Xykon catches the raven, and notices the purple text.
-->"Guess what spell I cast before giving this to the bird."
* ''Webcomic/AntiHeroes'': In a ShoutOut to the [[Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick Order of the Stick]] example above, Aldran casts Explosive Runes on a letter to Eldhin. Eldhin is GenreSavvy enough to let his annoying teammate read it aloud to him, and is grinning as she reaches the end. The strip is titled [[LampshadeHanging "We had to use the joke eventually"]].
-->'''Aldran's Letter:''' P.S. Guess what spell I prepared this morning? Explosive Ru-*'''''BOOM'''''*
[[/folder]]

* Crime investigation series ''{{Crimewatch}}'' screens reconstructions of crimes using lookalikes, to jog memories and solicit witness evidence. However, one elderly female viewer who did not ''quite'' grasp that she was seeing a reconstruction rang the show to say she knew the identity of the killer. She gave the police switchboard a name and even an address. This was followed through. The police rang her back, and her first words were

* Invoked in {{Futurama}}, where Amy mentions that old fashioned CRT [=TVs=] can't resolve her dirty tattoo. Of course, neither can plasma/LCD [=TVs=].

* SonicColors plays this straight. In the final cutscene Tails translates Yacker's speech on Miles electric, which is in Hexadecimal format. The first two lines of hex translate exactly to what Yacker was saying. But the additional bit at the bottom display reads, "If you can read this, you are a geek."

* TheGuardianLegend: All of the exposition is given to the player in the form of giant floor monitors.

* In the original ''VideoGame/{{Halo}}'', if you activate a computer console in Zanzibar, it says "A total FU exception has occured at your location. All system functionality will be terminated. Press any key to power cycle the system. If system does not restart, scream at top of lungs and pound on keypad."

* The ''StarWars'' prequel trilogy (and other EU sources) does this quite frequently...in an alien alphabet, called Aurebesh. If you [[CypherLanguage transcribe each character for its Roman equivalent]], it is just plain English. Some examples make sense in context (such as the screen of Anakin's Naboo Starfighter in ''Phantom Menace'') but most are simply inside jokes made by the creators of the material.

* Beginning with season 12, ''{{Degrassi}}'' has posted most printed material shown onscreen to the show {{Tumblr}}.

See Also: CrystalClearPicture. Not to be confused with DeadManWriting, which may use "If you can read this" as a stock phrase.

* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' has graffiti all over the place. In VideoGame/Left4Dead2, you can even find some by [[DeadRising Frank West]]!
* The computer screens on the desks you pass in the later half of ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' display the cake recipie later said by the second Personality Core.