🧠 Italian Brainrot: The Viral Phenomenon That's Redefining Digital Humor

What is "Brainrot"?

The term "brainrot" has been chosen as the Oxford English Dictionary's word of the year for 2024. It describes the deterioration of mental state caused by excessive consumption of trivial or undemanding online content, such as endless scrolling on social media.

The Rise of the Italian Brainrot

In 2025, a variant of the phenomenon took hold: the Italian Brainrot . These are memes and videos that combine AI-generated images of hybrid creatures (such as " Bombardiro Crocodilo " or " Tralellero Trallala ") with synthesized voices in macaronic Italian, creating absurd and comical scenarios.

Why Did It Go Viral?

1. Creative Accessibility : The use of artificial intelligence tools has allowed many users to easily create and share content, contributing to the rapid spread of the phenomenon.
2. Absurd Humor : The Italian Brainrot exploits a surreal and grotesque humor that particularly resonates with younger generations, offering a form of escapism from everyday reality.
3. Collective Involvement : The participatory nature of the phenomenon has led to the creation of a sort of shared mythology, with recurring characters and interconnected stories.

A Phenomenon Without Properties

It is important to note that the Italian Brainrot does not have a single creator. It is a product of the collective culture of the internet, born from the collaboration and imitation between users of different nationalities. As noted by some creators, the phenomenon is "less linked to real Italy and more to the cinematic myth of Italy itself".

A New Form of Childhood Imagination

If once upon a time children idolized classic animals like lions or elephants, today the new generations are fascinated by these hybrid and surreal creatures. The Italian Brainrot represents a new form of collective imagination, where the absurd and the fantastic merge into a unique visual language.