Year on year, a new viral trend for the summer season comes through, with a new way to live out the summer, but what’s really behind all these social movements?
Summer is, in some ways, the most fun season of all. Hopefully sunny weather, hopefully a relaxing getaway, and the sun stays out past 4pm, making it much easier to feel a sense of joy. But that’s not all that keeps the summer vibes up in the modern, social media era. From Brat to Barbie, we find ways to make summer trendy.
When Hot Girl Summer first hit the world, it had young women making lists in their notes app, checking them off religiously and aiming to live their ultimate ‘hot girl’ lives, before the autumn hits.
According to Urban Dictionary, the top definition for a Hot Girl Summer is: “A summer where you are in charge of your own happiness. Chase the bag and we ain’t crying over no man.”
A mantra for girlie summers, for being hot and carefree, it’s in the name. Just have a ‘hot girl’ mentality.
But a Hot Girl Summer is not the only summer lifestyle we’ve been trying to achieve on the internet. In fact, we’ve had multiple new summer obsessions since.
There’s been a whole list of summer trends, including Barbie and its hot pink, Brat Summer, which confused clueless parents everywhere and Taylor Swift and her Eras Tour created a summer subculture, with a lot of sparkles, feathers and cowboy boots. There was even a ‘Rat Girl Summer’ takeover, which encouraged letting go of strict beauty and lifestyle maintenance.
Dawn Grundy, a BACP accredited clinical counsellor, gave insight into the logic behind why we choose summer for our lifestyle trends:
“Summer is a time where people are outside, socialising and their image is seen. Image is important, especially to younger people, to fit in and be admired, and when many people are following a trend, it brings validation to their choices.”
A common theme with these trend phenomenon’s, are that they don’t suddenly occur from a pit on the internet, but rather have all had a big commercial project as inspiration, which has grown into something else entirely.
Lauren Harvey, a Junior Community manager at Share creatives explained why the brands choose summer: “Summer is ideal for viral brand campaigns because it coincides with increased social media activity, outdoor events, and consumer spending.
“Major events like music festivals, sporting tournaments, and blockbuster movie releases create fertile ground for brands to align themselves with trending topics.”
If you are anything like me, you thought a Hot Girl Summer was a viral phrase coined by random girls on the internet trying to make the most out of their summer. Although this is what it went on to become, the movement actually originated from a 2019 song by Meghan Thee Stallion, appropriately named ‘Hot Girl Summer’, and from there it went on to create its own life form, going way beyond what the song achieved. Even Rat Girl Summer, which was named by users on Tiktok, came from a direct opposition to Meg’s original summer song.
Tiktok seems to be a common denominator in all of these trends, from the Apple dance for Brat to friends documenting their group of pink at Barbie screenings. Lauren said: “TikTok has a much lower barrier to entry compared to other platforms, making it easier for both consumers and brands to engage.”
Hot Girl Summer seemingly went viral overnight, but Lauren suggests this isn’t as coincidental as it sounds, actually it was well thought out brand recognition: “Authenticity is key: lo-fi, unpolished content often performs better than high-production videos, which is unique to TikTok. The platform’s algorithm also amplifies trends in a way that Instagram doesn’t, allowing content to go viral overnight.”
But how are certain projects outdoing themselves, becoming a cultural and social takeover?
Sam Delaney, author, podcaster and journalist, summarised the three key ingredients for successful viral movements as: a great idea, good marketing and luck.
“It’s got to be a good idea with appeal. There’s not many tricks you can do if the idea isn’t in some way amusing, powerful or timely. And that is creativity.
“You can increase your chances with PR and marketing but you can’t make a bad idea popular or viral, no matter how much money you spend.”
Although these trends start off as a project, carefully managed by a marketing team, there’s no controlling what people on the internet will do, and what we find fun.
Sam said: “It’s much more powerful to see a peer or someone you admire reposting some content than an ad. People just trying to make their mates laugh are always going to be funnier and more engaging.”
Lauren supported this stating: “Brands need to be careful not to feel intrusive, trends belong to the community first. Instead of jumping on everything that’s going viral, brands should identify trends that align with their identity and audience. TikTok’s culture rewards relatable, native content, so brands should lean into that rather than trying to impose traditional advertising formats.”
When Charli XCX released her album Brat in June 2024, it didn’t take long before the internet had coined the phrase ‘Brat Summer’, and made every other colour seem boring compared to its highly recognisable, luminescent green. Sure, the album was a commercial success, but I’m not entirely convinced everyone having a Brat Summer had ever listened to it. And that was part of the fun.
Sam said: “Brat Summer is one thing, but the way in which people apply Brat Summer, applying it to completely inappropriate things, like animals or politicians, saying ‘Keir Starmer’s having a Brat Summer.’ This broadens out and can traverse cultural and social barriers like Brat Summer did.”
No one was quite sure what a Brat Summer was; a ‘brat’ in its purest form is a badly behaved child, but this certainly didn’t make the aim of a Brat Summer clearer, or how Keir Starmer was managing to have one.
Defined by Charli herself, to be having a Brat Summer, “You’re just like that girl who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things sometimes.
“A little bit volatile. Like, doing dumb things. But it’s brat. You’re brat. That’s brat.” (BBC)
For the consumers, for us getting involved, there’s no big secret to these trends. Sometimes life’s just a bit messy, and that is Brat.
Sam believes this simplicity is what makes us all love it: “Using a phrase that’s silly like Brat Summer, you feel relief, hearing other people saying it, doing it, and you share humour in that and realise that life can be silly.”
Brat Summer was a clear move away from the perfectionist lifestyle, encouraging us to be more authentic and a bit ‘silly’, to not take life too seriously.
Dawn defined Brat Summer as: “Embracing who you are, imperfections and all, recognising that our flaws can be what sets us apart, it’s the freedom of no longer needing to ‘match up’ to the Instagram or TikTok influencer with a ‘perfect’ life.”
Dawn supports this saying: “The attitude of embracing your own authenticity, not following the crowd, is one we can all aspire to. The social media around Brat Summer brings to the attention of many the idea that individuality is a good thing.”
But Brat Summers’ green wasn’t the only colour that taught us that fun and authenticity is trendy. The Barbie pink of 2023 enabled Barbie dolls to go from things that were sitting at the bottom of the wardrobe, to a film that made us all want to find love in the female experience.
Before the release of the Barbie movie in July 2023, the cinema was a place I would attend in Ugg boots, joggers and no makeup. But the viral frenzy Barbie was able to create, made us all WANT to go to the cinema in cute hot pink outfits, with all of our friends, wear glitter, cry, and laugh.
These synonymous colours aren’t just a coincidence, Lauren explains it: “They can create instant recognition and strong brand associations. Strategic colour choices can turn a campaign into a cultural moment. Beyond just aesthetics, colours contribute to brand identity and awareness – we often recognise brands from their typography, colour palette, or visual cues alone.
“In Brat’s case, the green became so deeply tied to a specific internet subculture that it gained the same level of recognition as a heritage brand. When used effectively, colours don’t just support a campaign—they become an integral part of its success.”
So what colours are next? What colour do I need to be making my wardrobe right now? Am I having a Brat summer again?
Lauren said: “I think we’ll see more brands and consumers throwing caution to the wind on socials. We’re already seeing brands like Duolingo, Ryanair, and even Scrub Daddy lean into bold, chaotic, and borderline unhinged social media personas.
“As consumers continue to reject corporate-speak, expect more brands to go fully off-script to stay relevant in such a competitive space. Just as hyper-curated feeds led to the rise of photo dumps and low-effort posting, we could see brands intentionally embracing “ugly” aesthetics—bad graphics, over-the-top fonts, chaotic designs—as a way to stand out.”
Whether you’re a hot girl, brat or a rat, we create these trends as consumers because we resonate with the original content, and make them something that is able to bring us together. These summer culture movements aren’t just commercial projects, they are a part of life, girlhood, authenticity, bringing people of all ages together, and making something much bigger than just an album or a movie.
Sam said: “People like distraction, life is serious. Life is dull. Life can be frustrating. When you do something that shows how silly life is or how absurd it is, you take pleasure in the trivialities of life, and that is actually a hugely powerful thing.”
An overriding theme over all of these summer trends is that we should be authentic and live our best lives; Hot Girl Summer encourages you to live life as the hot girl you are, Barbie tells us to love the female experience and stand up for what we believe in, and Brat teaches us it’s okay to glamourise the messy in life. And to be a 365 party girl.
We’re not sure what’s next for this summer, but what we do know is it’s ok to be authentic, be a bit messy and most importantly, enjoy a little trend guilt-free.
If you would like to contact a trained and experienced therapist near you, you can visit BACP therapists directory on www.bacp.com or specially https://www.bacp.co.uk/search/Therapists
If you want to learn more about Share Creative and their services, click here.
You can see more about Sam and his work here.
