History Main / IfYouCanReadThis

* There is a eye chart in the background in ''Film/TheReturnOfTheLivingDead'' where the letters read "Burt is a slave driver and a cheap son of a bitch who's got you and me here."

* ''Film/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.
* The ''Franchise/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 ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'') but most are simply inside jokes made by the creators of the material.

-->If you can read this...(''tiny; zoom in to show Chinese characters'') you are Chinese!

See also: CrystalClearPicture, compare with FreezeFrameBonus. Not to be confused with DeadManWriting, which may use "If you can read this" as a stock phrase. FontAnachronism can rely on this same principle, when old-time lettering is streamlined so the modern audience can better read it.

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

* In ''KickinIt'', [[LocalHangout Falafel Phil's]] displays an "A" from the health department in the front window - a RunningGag on the show is that Phil keeps a live goat in the kitchen.

* On ''Series/BabylonFive'', the [[SpaceFighter Starfury]] [[AcePilot pilots]] wear flight suits complete with patches for the various fighter squadrons based on B5, with slogans such as "Ugly But Well Hung"[[note]][[DontExplainTheJoke Starfuries are kept slung on racks in the hangar bay and launch by being dropped through a hatch in the floor.]][[/note]] At first, producer JMichaelStraczynski thought he was GettingCrapPastTheRadar, and only later did he learn that there effectively was no radar - the network had not bothered to assign any [[MoralGuardians censors]] to look out for such things.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Half-Life 2}}: Episode 2'', at least one computer screen within the missile silo displays the numbers from ''Series/{{Lost}}''.

* There is a eye chart in the background in ''Film/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 ''Franchise/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.

** 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, where certain words have been replaced with all-caps plot related words, such as "SEELE", "ADAM", and "SECOND IMPACT".

* The ''Daily Prophet'' newspapers in the ''Film/HarryPotter'' film releases.

* In the first season of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', an invisible girl is (eventually) taken by the government and put in a classroom with other invisible children. They are asked to open their textbooks. We learn today's lesson will be on infiltrating a cult compound to assassinate its leader... the textbook is readable in DVD format, and consists of the lyrics to "Happiness is a Warm Gun" by Music/TheBeatles.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' has an enormous number of them suiting its long run, but one of the most direct is the list of debunked claims by Rock Bottom in the episode Homer Bad Man. It's... lengthy, and include "[[TakeThatAudience If you are reading this, you have no life," and "[[SelfDeprecation The people writing these have no life]]."

--> Madam. you gave us the name and details of the actor who was playing the role of the wanted man....

* ''VideoGame/{{Vexx}}'' has numerous instances of text in the game's {{Fictionary}} slash SubstitutionCipher, Asataran. The longest of these is a very lengthy book title. If you actually take the time to translate it (not easy, since no translation guide is provided with the game manual--you've got to piece it together yourself--and the texture is blurred)--the title of the book turns out to be [[spoiler: "A Lesson in Patience."]]

** 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 ''Series/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.)
** Many of the pipes and ducts in the Jeffries tubes and inside the walls were labeled as "GNDN", an acronym for "Goes Nowhere, Does Nothing". Tiny labels elsewhere on the set featured the birthdates or initials of various members of the behind-the-scenes crew, or short poems or snippets of lyrics to songs from Music/TheBeatles to the theme tune from ''GilligansIsland''.

* ''BetterOffTed'' has an example in the episode Bioshuffle when Ted and Linda share an office. At one point Linda accuses Ted of not being professional, and proves it by putting pieces of tape on her butt that read, "If you're reading this you're NOT being professional". Needless to say Ted read it.

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

* ''[BetterOffTed]'' has an example in the episode Bioshuffle when Ted and Linda share an office. At one point Linda accuses Ted of not being professional, and proves it by putting pieces of tape on her butt that read, "If you're reading this you're NOT being professional". Needless to say Ted read it.

* In the original ''VideoGame/{{Halo}}'', if you activate a computer console in Zanzibar, it says "A total FU exception has occurred 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."

* In the final cutscene of ''SonicColors'' the first two lines of hexadecimal code 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.
* ''{{Vexx}}'' has numerous instances of text in the game's {{Fictionary}} slash SubstitutionCipher, Asataran. The longest of these is a very lengthy book title. If you actually take the time to translate it (not easy, since no translation guide is provided with the game manual--you've got to piece it together yourself--and the texture is blurred)--the title of the book turns out to be [[spoiler: "A Lesson in Patience."]]

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

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