The "Well That Sounds Like Slavery With Extra Steps" meme originates from the animated series Rick and Morty, specifically featuring a scene with the character Rick Sanchez. In the template, Rick is portrayed with an expression of skepticism, captured in a single frame as he delivers the line. This meme is often used to humorously compare modern or complex solutions to historic injustices, pointing out their absurdity as merely being old problems dressed up in new guises.
The meme first appeared following the broadcast of the Rick and Morty episode titled "The Ricks Must Be Crazy," which aired on August 30, 2015. The episode, available on IMDb, features the character Rick using the phrase to criticize an alien race's economic system, essentially equating it to slavery but with more complexity involved. A few days later, on September 3, 2015, the scene was captured in a GIF by a Tumblr user named cerlswaj, marking its first use as a meme.[1]
Origin: 2015