As we get closer to the two year anniversary of brat, the sixth studio album by British artist Charli xcx, its influence still remains strong in many corners of the internet.

June 2024 was defined as brat summer (or more accurately, brat winter for us in the southern hemisphere), and since then it has become a cultural phenomenon and marketing sensation among Gen Z and Millennials alike. The simple aesthetic or rather “anti-aesthetic” nature of the album, club soundscape, and different fashion all came together to transform Charli xcx from a niche artist to a globally recognised name and 3-time Grammy award winning artist.

But how did the album become the cultural statement it is today?

The album build up:

Charli xcx’s album roll out and marketing tour from the beginning was aimed at those who are what the internet calls “chronically online”, or those with a screen time they wouldn’t dare share. From the start Charli xcx began creating buzz for the album by reaching out to a small number of fans with the message ‘LET’S RAVE - BOILER ROOM 2/22’, which was an invite to a performance where she played unreleased songs from brat and had guest appearances from Julia Fox and Addison Rae - both of whom are internet celebrities. This set the scene for brat and what it stood for.

Following the hype of the Boiler Room Set, Charli revealed the now iconic lime green cover and provocative title of her album, generating discussion and theories amongst fans and alike. Continuing to create online buzz, Charli xcx revealed the “Brat Wall” in NYC, a tangible, physical manifestation of her album that had real time unveilings of lyrics and themes central to the album. The wall became a central, interactive marketing point for fans to engage with online and in person.

360_brat. IYKYK.

With the wall and Boiler Room Set creating hype for brat in an unprecedented way, Charli’s stunts continued to engage fans, particularly with her private Instagram account “360_brat” where only a select few fans got access to a personal side of Charli. 

Through the account she shared exclusive insights into her relationship with Lorde, lyric drops, and behind the scenes content for the brat music videos. Charli’s approach of only allowing a certain number of people into her album ‘finsta’ was a marketing move made directly to further raise interest for the album and create a longer lasting influence rather than allowing the album to fade out within the typical album cycle.

Brat-ification.

If you’ve spent any time (or too much time) on Instagram, Tiktok, Pinterest, or even Tumblr you most likely have seen memes and graphics in the style of the album art. The ‘Brat Generator’ website played right into the hands of chronically online fans who in turn did the marketing for Charli by simply mimicking the green and Arial font cover with their own text and re-sharing it online. 

Following the juxtaposing themes of brat, from the contemplative lyrics of “i think about it all the time’ in relation to motherhood to the repetitive, memorable “bumpin’ that’ of 360, fans used the brat generator to share personal feelings whilst simultaneously sharing jokes. One could argue that these brat style posts have directly influenced the text-style posts using Instagram’s create mode that are currently popular on the platform.

Furthermore, companies brat-ified their marketing to appeal to younger audiences and in turn simultaneously marketed the album for Charli. This included Kate Space with their “brat summer starter pack”, Field & Roast using a play on words with “Brat Wurst” (bratwurst, like the German sausage), Wildflower Cases - owned by Devon Lee Carlson an internet fashion influencer, and her Brat “<3” phone case, alongside many others who hopped onto the brat bandwagon.

Apple dance.

In all iterations of Tiktok (Musically, originally Vine), dancing videos and trends have been a major source of fame and popularity. Tiktok creator Kelley Heyer created the “Apple” dance, choreographed to the song of the same name with lyrics about generational trauma. Heyer’s dance was simple and catchy, instantly making its way across the entire internet and to Charli’s shows themselves - where a lucky fan in the crowd at each show was selected to be shared on the big screen doing the dance. 

Charli embracing the apple dance, particularly at her shows and by posting tiktoks doing the dance with people such as Troye Sivan, catered further to the chronically online, creating urgency among fans to be at barricade at her shows in hopes of being featured and immortalised in the world of brat. 

Brat and politics.

Whilst an unexpected but welcomed turn of events, brat and its imagery become intertwined with US politics and the 2024 election where Kamala Harris and Donald Trump were the forefront runners for president. 

Notably, Harris made the statement in 2023: “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?… You exist in the context of all in which you live, and what came before you.”, and later memes of Harris making the statement set against brat green and the song “360” went viral. Harris embraced the trend as did the democratic party of the US government, where Kamala HQ on X (formally twitter) used the brat branding to reach younger audiences. Following this meme, numerous posts were made supporting Kamala in the style of brat. 

Charli xcx did not make any official statements or endorsements of former Vice President Harris, however she did tweet “kamala IS brat”, bringing in a new wave of engagement for brat. Marketing brat through the lens of politics was a marketing strategy that couldn’t have been predicted but was wildly successful and revived ‘brat summer’. 

The Moment - A last hurrah for brat?

Between the album’s release in June of 2024 to now, many more stunts and events have taken place to promote brat from the Sweat tour with Troye Sivan, ‘brat and its completely different but also still brat, Charli changing the XCX in her name to lowercase xcx, the Cash App ‘brat card’ and more, Charli released a satirical movie with Aidan Zamiri titled ‘The Moment’ (2026). The satire followed a fictionalised, alternative version of events in relation to the release and tour for brat. The Moment stood as a commercial and marketing success for Charli and A24 as it became the studio’s fastest-selling limited release at the time of release. 

Over the course of brat (brat summer, bratumn, brat winter etc) Charli had bid farewell to her album multiple times as marketing stunts in one form or another. From the last installation of the brat wall stating “ok, bye!” to playing into the online declaration of the end of brat summer via X by tweeting “goodbye forever brat summer”. Her constant interactions with fans and the discourse around her album, was a true testament to her understanding in how to cater to the chronically online fans who kept the moment (no pun intended) and brat going. 

The Moment acted a final goodbye, for now, to brat by finalising and immortalising its existence in pop culture and online discourse.  

From the album announcement to the film, brat has cemented itself as one of the biggest cultural phenomenons and marketing successes of the 2020s. Charli xcx’s strategic use of online marketing, focusing on a niche and then expanding out made brat fit perfectly into the chronically online space fans and non-fans share on the modern internet landscape.