About

Continue But Slowly refers to a series of Meat Grinder memes where a character, often one that is largely hated, is photoshopped going through a meat grinder with three Facebook reaction prompts underneath asking users to leave a laughing Emoji to "CONTINUE," an angry Emoji to "STOP!" or a heart to "CONTINUE BUT SLOWLY." The original meme features the Ice Age Baby going through the grinder and was posted online in February 2020, inspiring variations with new characters over the following years as the format became an exploitable.

Origin

On February 23rd, 2020, Facebook^[11] page I hate the baby from Ice Age posted an image of the Ice Age baby going through a meat grinder, asking users to react to the post with a heart to continue grinding but slowly, gaining over 16,000 reactions and 1,900 shares in two years (shown below). They credit an unavailable Facebook^[12] page for the meme. The meme was reposted by Facebook^[1] page Bawaseer Moment on the same date, gaining over 2,500 hearts in two years.

The meme is watermarked with the username of Redditor^[2] fantino_benedetto, who regularly posts memes to Reddit and Facebook,^[12] however it appears his original post has been deleted.

Spread

The format spread across social media over the course of the following months. On February 26th, 2020, Facebook^[3] page Doge Cumpilation posted a version of the meme with Cheems in the grinder, gaining over 1,100 reactions in two years (shown below, left). On March 15th, Facebook^[4] page The Common Room posted a version with the largely hated Harry Potter character Dolores Umbridge, gaining over 1,000 reactions in a similar span of time (shown below, right).

On March 3rd, Facebook^[5] page Netflics posted a version of the meme placing Skylar White from Breaking Bad in the meat grinder, gaining over 5,000 reactions in two years (shown below).

On September 21st, Instagram^[6] user obscurecatmemes posted a version of the meme placing the Standing Kitten meme in the meat grinder, gaining over 17,800 likes in roughly two years (shown below).

On October 20th, Instagram^[7] user therealrodrickheffley posted a version of the meme with Manny Heffley from Diary of a Wimpy Kid in the grinder, gaining over 31,900 likes in two years (shown below, left). On January 18th, 2021, the original Ice Age baby meme was reposted to Reddit's /r/shittymobilegameads^[8] subreddit, gaining over 6,900 upvotes in a year. On August 2nd, Instagarm^[9] user mrgamer42069 posted a version with Peter Griffin from Family Guy, gaining over 8,200 likes in seven months (shown below, right).

On March 8th, 2022, Instagram^[10] user salad.snake posted a version of the meme with Theodore from Alvin and the Chipmunks in the grinder, gaining over 50,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References