The “A Circle In The Triangle Factory” meme, often shortened to “The Triangle Factory meme,” comes from a comic comparing two worker reactions to an anomaly. The simple sketch, made with MS Paint or a similar program, was originally about the creator’s own workplace tendencies, but it rapidly evolved to take on alternative meanings.
The vast number of people who have experienced strange or irritating incidents at work combined with dissatisfaction over every company “diversifying” into new product lines, lowering the quality of everything, resulted in the comic’s widespread popularity.
Meme basics:
- Meme Creator: @MeatMarket__
- Meme Type: Exploitable comic
- First Appearance: Aug. 16, 2024
- Origin Source: Twitter
- Used to Convey: Workplace anxiety or apathy (originally)
- Peak Popularity: Late Aug. 2024
What is the Triangle Factory meme?
The original version of the comic that spawned the meme shows a worker in a hard hat on a production line holding up a blue circle that came out of a machine otherwise producing red triangles. The concerned employee says “a circle?? in the triangle factory?? how queer!! I’ve never seen such a thing- I must inquire about this further with my supervisor post-haste!!”
In the next panel, the same scene plays out, only with an unbothered worker standing in his place as the circle comes out among the triangles, saying “I guess we doin’ circles now.”
Social media users appropriated the comic into an exploitable meme, changing the outcome of the story or replacing the triangles and circles with real products to represent real-world companies. Others expanded the story by introducing new items like green squares to confound workers. After just a couple of months, this meme has lore.
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Triangle Factory meme origins and spread
The Triangle Factory meme comic was posted to Twitter by @MeatMarket__ on Aug. 16, 2024. As the tweet gained traction, the artist explained that it was supposed to be about them “not understanding that things should be reported if they’re different” and doing nothing because they assume it’s a normal, expected outcome.
Just as many people ended up identifying with the first worker as the second, however, and more related to the stress or exhaustion resulting from things changing at their jobs with no explanation. As the meme spread, new variations spawned rapidly as people added new characters or made fun of existing (or past) corporations.
Variations and meme mixing
One of the first variations on the Triangle Factory meme mocked companies that confused workers and customers by introducing new products that had little to do with what people knew them for. It’s a little disturbing how often this includes weapons manufacturing.
Other versions continued the story based on common real-world workplace experiences, such as bosses not caring when you report an anomaly or ending up with different shapes when the company finally completes the circle integration project.
The comic also provided rich ground for meme crossovers. Since mid-August, the triangle machine has produced items from Farside comics, the trolley problem, and even been adapted to run Doom.
Triangle Factory meme examples
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