Ok, Boomer: Brain Rot, Pretty Pickles & Shabby Chic

A column dishing out three quick takes on Gen Z, from Gen Z, about their impact on culture, food, hospitality, and more.

Welcome to the debut edition of Ok, Boomer. We’re Joel and Val, Carbonate’s resident Gen Z-ers, and we spend all day doomscrolling so you don’t have to. While social media can be a real rabbit hole, we’re here to guide you through it all! In this first issue, we’re breaking down the origins of ‘Brain Rot,’ the current obsession with all things pickles, and yet another niche ‘90s design trend making its way back thanks to Gen Z.

Oxford’s Word of the Year: Brain Rot 🧠💀

Brain Rot started in Ohio when the Gen Z and Alpha sigmas put a Fanum tax on all NPC grass-touching behavior. Once the brand sweats noticed, they jumped off the battle bus and started talking tuah everyone about it. They even rizzed up Oxford to make Brain Rot skibidi of the year.

[TRANSLATION] What began as a term used to describe excessive consumption of online content, ‘Brain Rot’ has evolved into a catch-all for a certain genre of Gen Z and Gen Alpha slang and social media content (most often referring to specific memes or content styles that could be considered low quality/low value, or “unhinged”).

As with any internet trend, brands took notice, propelling the term into mainstream consciousness and securing ‘Brain Rot’ its spot as the Oxford Word of the Year. Brain Rot was also one of the most viral slang terms of 2024, with 2.92 million online mentions from January through November 2024, and content associated with this trend viewed 1.33 billion times online (Meltwater).

Brand Rot

To gain new relevance with Gen Z and Gen Alpha, we’re now seeing everything from luxury fashion brands, to a 50-year-old snack cookie that went nutty on TikTok, to Starbucks getting in on Brain Rot culture—and demonstrating that even the most seemingly unlikely of industries has an opportunity to capitalize on this cultural current to engage younger audiences.

There are several ways brands are tapping into this trend, and considerations to keep in mind when testing the waters. Some are incorporating a few Brain Rot-style posts (or adjacent trending content) into their social feeds, others are using it as inspiration for real-world activations, while a few are even full on “rot- maxxing”—going all-in by dedicating their entire social channel to Brain Rot content styles.