Spotify has Wrapped, Pantone has Colour of the Year… and our very own Ed Lloyd has 2024’s top cultural themes by way of memes. In a year of polycrisis and perpetual vibe shifts, Ed unpacks what the most popular memes, heroes, and internet moments say about our culture. From the rise of “brat” and “brainrot” to icons like The Rizzler and Moo Deng, it’s a window into a frenetic world deciding whether to care too much or not at all.
As the year comes to a close, I had a go at pulling out the major themes from this year by way of the most popular memes, online heroes and moments for Campaign... As I dug through my saveds and a shameful quantity of screenshots, it became clear that in a year of polycrisis, the key tension we've experienced is whether or not to care - stuck in the perpetual motion of being over back and so over. Should we be brat or demure? A "chill guy" or unabashedly "chalant"? Should we be rawdogging or brainrotting? What do The Rizzler, Moo Deng and Kim Ye-Ji have in common? Is it just aura? 📝 ⛓ https://lnkd.in/e8ZQHWBB Thank you Campaign UK and Helen Down for entertaining my own brainrot moment.