What is Puts On Sunglasses?

It is an ASCII copypasta, (•_•) / ( •_•)>⌐■-■ / (⌐■_■), that parodies Lt. Horatio Caine's trademark shades-on moment from CSI: Miami.

Where did Puts On Sunglasses come from?

The source is CSI: Miami, which premiered on CBS on September 12, 2002, and used the sunglasses gag in nearly every cold open before The Who's 'Won't Get Fooled Again' hit.

What does Puts On Sunglasses mean?

It is a punchline stamp. Dropping (⌐■_■) after a joke or a mic-drop line signals smug self-satisfaction in the style of Caine's cheesy quip-and-shades cue.

How do you use Puts On Sunglasses?

Paste the three-line ASCII at the end of a bad pun or a victorious argument close. The 'Deal With It' GIF variant does the same by dropping pixel-art shades onto a photo or short clip.

Is Puts On Sunglasses still popular?

It is a classic. The ASCII and 'Deal With It' shades live on in sticker packs, emoji sets, and everyday chat use long after Jim Carrey's 2007 Caruso impression that pushed the joke past the show's own fanbase.

Puts On Sunglasses

2012catchphraseclassic

Published September 23, 2026

Puts On Sunglasses, also known as YEEEEAAAHHH, is the ASCII copypasta parody of Lt. Horatio Caine's trademark move on CSI: Miami, where he lands a one-liner then slides on shades while The Who's 'Yeaaah!' kicks in3. The three-line text (•_•) / ( •_•)>⌐■-■ / (⌐■_■) turned Caruso's cheesy cue into an all-purpose punchline stamp.

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Overview

The meme works as a three-frame ASCII animation: a neutral face, sunglasses coming into position, then shades on with a smug (⌐■_■)3. People drop it at the end of a post to punctuate a groan-worthy pun, a self-satisfied argument close, or a mic-drop moment. The joke lives on the gap between the show's overwrought cool and the cheapness of the text copy, so any bad line followed by (⌐■_■) reads as knowingly smug rather than sincere.

The same beat also survives as the 'Deal With It' reaction, an image-macro variant where pixel-art shades slide onto a photo or GIF subject. The visual has been sampled into stickers, keyboard shortcuts, and countless Discord and Slack emoji sets, all riding the original CSI: Miami rhythm of quip, shades, YEAH.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

CBS television (source) / Reddit (ASCII spread)

Date

2012

CSI: Miami premiered on CBS on September 12, 2002, with David Caruso playing Lt. Horatio Caine, the show's sunglasses-obsessed lead investigator3. Every cold open followed the same beat: Caine stands over a victim, delivers a dry quip, puts on his shades, and The Who's 'Won't Get Fooled Again' explodes with Roger Daltrey's opening 'YEAH!'1. The bit was mocked online almost immediately. On November 14, 2005, Ars Technica forum user Frennzy started the thread 'CSI Miami: worst intro lines, evar,' which collected fan-written parody one-liners in the same rhythm3.

How It Spread

Mainstream comedy caught the joke next. On February 19, 2007, Jim Carrey did a full Caruso impression on The Late Show with David Letterman, complete with the sunglasses beat. A clip of the appearance uploaded to YouTube pulled in more than 4.4 million views2. On April 11, 2008, YouTuber beepboopvideo uploaded a supercut of the show's cold-open one-liners that cleared 3 million views and became the go-to reference clip for the running joke3.

The ASCII version showed up a few years later. On March 15, 2012, a Redditor asked r/AskReddit for the code, and the (•_•) / ( •_•)>⌐■-■ / (⌐■_■) template took off as copypasta on forums, chatrooms, and Twitter. From there it fed the 'Deal With It' reaction, where pixel-art shades slide onto anything from cats to politicians, cementing the CSI: Miami cue as an internet-wide punchline stamp.

Timeline

2002-09-12

CSI: Miami premieres on CBS with David Caruso as Lt. Horatio Caine.

2005-11-14

Ars Technica user Frennzy posts 'CSI Miami: worst intro lines, evar,' one of the earliest text parodies of the Caine cold-open format.

2007-02-19

Jim Carrey impersonates Caruso on The Late Show with David Letterman; the clip later clears 4.4 million YouTube views.

2008-04-11

YouTuber beepboopvideo uploads a supercut of CSI: Miami cold-open one-liners that passes 3 million views.

2012-03-15

A Redditor requests the ASCII version on r/AskReddit, and the (•_•) / ( •_•)>⌐■-■ / (⌐■_■) template spreads as copypasta.

How to Use This Meme

Drop (•_•) / ( •_•)>⌐■-■ / (⌐■_■) at the end of a post to stamp a bad pun or a smug argument close. The three frames typically read as neutral face, shades coming on, shades on. The 'Deal With It' GIF variant does the same thing with pixel-art sunglasses that slide onto a photo or short clip.