Charli XCX said it, so it must be true: Brat Summer is over. In a tweet that resonated so much it got several media hits, the pop chick/club rat said goodbye into the season that could define her career and America’s political future. It was September 2, 87 days after Charli released the album Golf club and 43 days after Vice President Kamala Harris declared “He is a brat.”Typically, the spooky, autumnal vibes of late summer don’t kick in until the end of the month, but being online has always been a surefire way to distort our sense of time.
This year, however, that deformation is happening at a dizzying speed. As Bethy Squires pointed out At Vulture this week, the internet seems to be “starting spooky season early.” Maybe Demure Autumn didn’t give people enough of what they needed; maybe everyone just wants to enjoy Halloween a lot before everyone has to start getting ready for the holidays on October 1 (or so). Some TikTokers are advocating for A drop dedicated to Magdelena Bay’s album Imaginal disk.
But more than that, I would say that this all has something to do with the fact that being extremely connected means observing one’s own calendar, one loosely aligned with the Gregorian but with its own set of holidays and traditions.
You know them: Galentine’s Day, Beyoncé’s birthday (which was on Wednesday), that time in the spring when everyone starts posting “It’s gonna be May” with a macro image of Justin Timberlake’s smiling face. Right now, maybe a little early, Ghostly October And a new Pumpkin Spice Latte/PSL season is upon us. Like many others, this latest one, similar to National Donut Day, is one that, while perhaps not the product of a corporate marketing genius, definitely benefits Starbucks. #Brands like to jump on #trends. Now, when they know there’s a surefire way to be a part of something, like Pride Month, they put it on a calendar and launch a full-blown campaign.
Maybe that’s how this situation got to the first place. Everyone from Gen Z TikTokers to the Dunkin’ social media manager needs to know when to jump on the trend and when to ditch it. Presumably, this is why Kamala HQ X Account She’s already ditched her Brat green shade. As my colleague Leah Feiger discussed with writer Hunter Harris a few weeks ago, as America heads toward Election Day in November, the pop culture moment around Harris will likely become more political again.
