Rot Your Brain
Graphics by Téa Sklar
If you made your way to this article, you are likely at least 17 years of age. With that in mind, you also probably grew up on Vine, Cyanide & Happiness, and Asdfmovie as your ideal comedic, short entertainment.
Just our luck, we got to witness the emergence of Tik Tok and watch seven second videos of micro-influencers dancing and lip syncing to popular songs. We also get videos of AI generated cappuccinos and professional wrestler Jake Paul dressed as a fairy princess. I couldn’t possibly think of a better term for this phenomenon other than pure “Brainrot.”
One of the main differences between Brainrot in the 2010s versus now is that it used to be easily explainable. For example, “Road work ahead? Uh, yeah I sure hope it does,” is one of the most popular vines on the internet. The six second video features a man driving and pointing to a “Road Work Ahead” sign and ultimately hoping that the road is still there and working in the next few miles. That is something I could explain to my 82-year-old grandmother.
The Asdfmovies where simple stick figures make silly puns and jokes within the seven second range. “Dad, I’m hungry,” says the daughter. “Hi Hungry, I’m dad,” says the dad. “Why did you name me this way?” continues the daughter. You see, the joke here is that although this is a common “dad joke,” this time the kid’s name is actually hungry. What happened to that sharp and quick style of humor?
Vine first came out in 2012 and gradually shut down in 2017, allowing room for Tik Tok, originally Musical.ly, to take over.
Most of the Gen Z demographic has grown up with the aforementioned media, as well as the new forms such as Tik Tok, Instagram Reels and Youtube Shorts. However, a later group of Gen Z, along with their succession of Gen Alpha, have grown up with the latter set of platforms as their main comedic route. What used to be 21 is now 6 7 and what used to be 6 7 is now 41. Then it was 61 and then it was – I’ll be right back, I need to touch grass.
I can’t keep up with the amount of new memes and brainrot videos that come out each day. For someone to understand them all they would need at least 12 hours of screen time every day. To be completely vulnerable, my recent lack of brainrot knowledge has really taken a toll on me. I’m not even in group seven, which I’m upset about because apparently it’s a good thing. Why is Pakistani educational activist Malala Yousafzai telling people in group seven that they would love her book. I feel behind, stressed out and extremely frustrated.
Last summer I was a camp counselor for four and 5-year-olds. One of my campers would not stop saying, “Tung Tung Tung Tung Sahur,” and unfortunately I had to pretend I didn’t know what that meant in order for me to be a responsible adult and stop him.
“Italian Brainrot” has got to be one of the most out-of-the-blue trends to reach the brainrot agenda. These strange AI figurines with silly names like Ballerina Cappucina, Bombardino Crocodilo and Tralalero Tralala became so popular that physical toys and figurines were made. Even credible companies such as Ryanair, KFC and Loewe were using them for marketing strategies.
Brainrot is definitely the best name for whatever the hell is going on. I officially resign from trying to figure the new stuff out anymore.