# Turning A Big Dial That Says "Racism" On It On March 15, 2017, Twitter poster @dril wrote a now-canonical tweet about turning a big dial labeled "Racism" while glancing back for audience approval, deliberately misspelling "that" as "taht". The line grew into a plug-and-play template for calling out companies and institutions that lean into unpopular behavior while fishing for applause. By 2019, posters were aiming it at Atlus over trans-related game content and at Nickelodeon's nostalgia posting. ## Origin The source post went up on March 15, 2017, when @dril tweeted, "turning a big dial taht says 'Racism' on it and constantly looking back at the audience for approval like a contestant on the price is right"[1]. The tweet, typo and all, grew to more than 13,000 retweets and 39,000 likes across the next seven years[6]. Dril, the pseudonymous Twitter poster behind the account, had an existing archive of surreal one-liners that gave this post an instant foothold with readers familiar with his style. - **Platform:** Twitter - **Creator:** @dril - **Date:** 2017 ## Overview Dril's post works by swapping "Racism" for any practice that is widely disliked in theory but tolerated or rewarded in moderation, with the Price Is Right stage image doing the comedic lifting[1]. A typical reuse writes something like "[Company] turning a big dial that says '[bad thing]' on it and constantly looking back at the audience for approval," often with the original "taht" typo preserved as a signature of the source post[6]. The typo is part of the bit, so cleaning it up reads as missing the joke. Targets range from game publishers to news headlines to tech CEOs, and the humor lands when the subject's behavior fits the knob-turning motion of someone chasing cheers while doing something cheap[4]. Posts also work as text-only quote tweets, which is how most of the viral reuses appeared[5]. ## How to Use Users typically open with the subject's name and swap "Racism" for whatever unpopular practice fits the moment, keeping the Price Is Right image of looking back for applause[1]. Many preserve the original "taht" misspelling as a signature of the Dril source[6]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Turning A Big Dial That Says "Racism" On It? It is a widely parodied @dril tweet from March 2017 that grew into a template for calling out subjects engaging in disliked behavior while fishing for crowd approval[1]. ### Where did Turning A Big Dial That Says "Racism" On It come from? Twitter poster @dril wrote the original tweet on March 15, 2017, including the deliberate misspelling "taht" for "that"[1]. ### What does Turning A Big Dial That Says "Racism" On It mean? It describes the posture of a person or company doing something unpopular while seeking audience approval, modeled on a Price Is Right contestant[6]. ### How do you use Turning A Big Dial That Says "Racism" On It? Users swap "Racism" for the specific objectionable thing their target is doing, often keeping the "taht" typo intact as a nod to the source[5]. ### Is Turning A Big Dial That Says "Racism" On It still popular? The template saw ongoing reuse through 2023, including posts aimed at Elon Musk's Twitter changes[4] and a headline about American creationism beliefs[5]. ## References 1. [https://twitter.com/dril/status/841892608788041732]() 2. [https://twitter.com/Yuri_Librarian/status/1096643543353962496]() 3. [https://twitter.com/HypraSeaPea/status/1180592815429959681]() 4. [https://twitter.com/Jewthulhu/status/1675282697940512768]() 5. [https://twitter.com/JoePostingg/status/1690644144601825280]() 6. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/turning-a-big-dial-that-says-racism-on-it]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/turning-a-big-dial-that-says-racism-on-it Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library