About
“Do you want ants? Because that’s how you get ants” is a memorable quote said by the character Malory Archer from the American animated TV series Archer while explaining the dangers of leaving sugary food products uncovered in an office. Online, the phrasal template“Do you want X? Because that’s how you get X" is typically used as a reaction image to warn against the potentially negative consequences of acting upon a decision.
Origin
In the closing scene of the pilot episode of the animated television series Archer, originally aired on September 17th, 2009, Malory Archer, the mother and supervisor of the titular character Sterling, notices several donuts scattered across the floor and scolds her son, “Do you want ants? Because that’s how you get ants!” (shown below). On January 23rd, 2010, a Facebook[1] page titled “Do you want ants? Because that’s how you get ants!” was launched.
Malory: …And why are there donuts everywhere?!
Sterling: Lana did that.
Lana: I --
Malory: Do you want ants?! Because that’s how you get ants!
Spread
On July 8th, 2013, Redditor SunnyDeligh submitted a two-panel image macro featuring a photograph of a love note written in candy pieces and a screenshot of Sterling Archer with the caption “This is how / we get ants” to the /r/funny[4] subreddit (shown below, left). Prior to being archived, the post gathered more than 21,200 up votes and 260 comments. On February 8th, 2014, Redditor existenjoy posted an Archer image macro poking fun at a woman’s online dating profile to /r/AdviceAnimals,[5] which accumulated upwards of 9,000 up votes and 150 comments within two months (shown below, right).
On February 17th, Redditor myowngalactus submitted a two-panel image macro of Archer chastising Willy Wonka from the 1970 musical film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory to /r/funny[3] (shown below, left). In the next month, the post gained over 6,800 up votes and 50 comments. On April 13th, Reddit LibonatiJT submitted an Archer image macro complaining about his mother ripping off his blanket in the morning to /r/AdviceAnimals[2] (shown below, right). In the first 24 hours, the post garnered upwards of 9,400 up votes and 400 comments.
Notable Examples
