What does 'brat summer' mean? Some Milwaukee residents had a different take
Vice President Kamala Harris' popularity is surging on social media. Now, she is embracing a trend that might be confusing for some Wisconsinites.
The VP is now a part of "brat summer," made official by singer Charli XCX, who released her "brat" album in June.
"Brat" has a theme color of chartreuse, or lime green, to match the album cover.
"Have you seen the trend on social media?" sister station WISN 12 News reporter Kendall Keys asked Milwaukee resident Emma Brittain.
"Oh, all over the place. I even tried looking it up and making sense of it," Brittain said.
What the term means, depends on who you ask. Gen-Z has coined "brat" as a way of describing a carefree, fun mentality.
Some Milwaukee residents are pronouncing it differently. Instead of pronouncing it "brat," like the pop star aesthetic or the way you would pronounce it when describing an ill-mannered immature person, some are pronouncing it as "brat," like the type of sausage that originated in Germany.
"Brat summer. Summertime brats and having fun, drinking beer, you know?" Willie Davis said.
"It's always brat summer at the Brat House," Christian Bradley, who works at the Milwaukee Brat House said.
"Brat," or "brat," either way you pronounce it, now the Vice President's campaign is jumping on the trend.
"I've heard them say Kamala Harris is having a brat summer," Brittain said.
Charli XCX herself posted on X, "Kamala is brat."
The official X account for the Harris campaign adjusted its color photo accordingly, using the signature color and font from the album cover.
"Politicians rarely are described as hip and cool, but if anybody accomplished that in the last 48 hours, it's her," Mordecai Lee, UW-Milwaukee professor emeritus.
Lee said the way the Harris campaign is leaning into the rapid spread of Kamala as a "brat" meme is reaching the youngest generation of voters.
"Now she's mobilizing Gen Z. These are the people who are resisting politics, who weren't interested in politics. And now they know her and they want to vote for her because of the meme," Lee said.
Lee said the Harris campaign found a way to reach millions of Gen-Z voters by speaking their language. He said he didn't think the Trump campaign has had the same breakthrough with young voters yet.
"From silly to ironic to voting. That's not a difficult connection. And I think this will really have an impact in terms of which demographic categories are going to turn out above their natural averages," Lee said.