What results when pornography is posted somewhere, often a message board, that is purportedly worksafe (e.g., The New York Times homepage).

Many might think that the appearance of such material on a workplace monitor would lead to firings or at least a stern talking-to. But in one of life's little mysteries, 4chan's /v/ discovered that most employees are actually promoted instead, perhaps in approval for their viewing such interesting internet content.

A 4chan meme which started on /v/. Since /v/ is ostensibly a work-safe board, people assume it's completely safe to browse the board at work (hence the name). One day, someone posted a NSFW image, and one person posted "My boss walked by when I had the image open at work, and I got fired." Someone responded "I got promoted," implying he was promoted to replace the first guy. Soon after, when someone posted another work-unsafe image, one person responded "PROMOTIONS!"

People unfamiliar with the phrase's origins believed it to be wholly ironic, and thought it was so hilarious they repeated it whenever work-unsafe material finds its way onto the board, and then it became a true meme.

It should NOT be assumed that bosses like to see their workers watch porn at work.

The purported result of viewing NSFW on a (supposedly) worksafe message/imageboard.

Originates from the /v/ board of 4chan, where it was a common joke to post that you just got fired because your boss caught you looking at NSFW material. Was later changed to "promotions", probably because the irony/absurdity of it made it funnier.