Are you too late to Brat Summer?

The background to ‘brat summer’ is British singer Charli xcx’s new album, Brat, which came out in early June. Charli’s iconic ‘anti-marketing-marketing’ approach (see: hideous green with pixelated font), paired with the fact that the album is just really, really good, gave it an almost instantly iconic status.

Celebrities, brands, political parties – e.g. the Green party – and NGOs have all made references to ‘brat summer’ in an attempt to capitalise on its success – to a scale that has arguably been unmatched by previous social media trends.

More recently, as part of a wider explosion of semi-ironic Kamala Harris memes, there have been multiple mashups of Brat songs with Kamala’s most ‘memeable’ moments – which Kamala’s campaign page have used to their advantage. Having a US Presidential candidate’s team participate in the trend gives you an indication of the scale of this moment.

To reference brat summer as an organisation is to walk a fine line. Try too hard, and it comes off as an insincere attempt to profit from gen-z/millennial culture. Get it right, and you look trendy, fun, and relevant (as usual, the RSPB have pulled through). Whatever you decide – you may need to act pretty fast, before the political co-option of Charli xcx potentially kills brat summer…