Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign has used the “Brat” aesthetic to gain popularity among Gen-Z voters.

As summer draws to a close, many will remember 2024 as the year of “Brat summer.” The phenomenon stemmed from British music artist Charli XCX’s album “Brat,” released on June 7, 2024.

The album sparked worldwide attention, coining the term “Brat summer,” which soon was used by presidential candidate Harris as a campaigning strategy.

“Brat summer” is a type of aesthetic referring to someone who is extroverted, high-energy, messy, sometimes dumb and embodies rave culture. As Today described it, “brat summer is all about accepting your imperfections while embracing the chaos.” 

The album originally began gaining traction due to its distinct cover, which was revealed in early 2024. Charli XCX announced the album and its cover on her Instagram on Feb. 28. The word “brat” (stylized lowercase) is displayed in an all black, lowercase arial font that harshly contrasts a neon-green background. 

Many fans had conflicting opinions regarding the cover. At the time of release, user @imfranco__ commented under Charli XCX’s post saying “this better not be the final album cover.”

However, others disagreed, including user @posterjournal who said, “This is brilliant graphic design and I’m not kidding.”

In the following months, the specific shade of green would become synonymous with the album and the “Brat summer” aesthetic.

After its release, “Brat” received overall positive reviews from critics, including an 8.6/10 from Pitchfork and five stars from The Guardian.

Its mainstream break would come from the second album’s single “360” and a TikTok dance to the now single “Apple.”

Both songs would gain over 100 million streams, and the “Apple” dance would be performed by many notable figures such as Joe Jonas, Cara Delevinge, Glen Powell and more. 

In addition to the popularity of its singles, “Brat’s” reach continued to grow with the creation of the “Brat wall.”

The big, bright green wall on the side of a NYC climbing gym was announced on Charli XCX’s X account on May 2. The singer proceeded to hold a pop-up concert performing the single “360” on top of an SUV.

Following her performance, the “Brat wall” became a hub of breaking news related to the album.

Its first major update came days before the album’s release. The lyric “i’m your fav reference” from the song “360” was painted on top of the iconic brat green background.

The wall was painted over completely white on June 10.

Fans watched as black letters were slowly painted on top of the white background. Eventually it revealed the message “brat and it’s the same but there’s three more songs so it’s not.”

This served as Charli XCX’s announcement of the deluxe edition of “Brat,” which was released later that night.

On July 5, the “Brat wall” was repainted for the last time, back to its lime green background and the words “ok, bye!” The singer clarified in an X post that this was not the end of “brat summer,” just the end of the wall.

Of all marketing strategies, a wall on the side of a cycling gym seemed unlikely to have the impact the “Brat wall” did. What made the wall so special was not solely its location or size, but instead the fan involvement.

Each time the “Brat wall” was repainted, Charli XCX would begin a TikTok live, which allowed viewers to watch it change and develop in real time. It sparked hours long conversations, spanning multiple social media platforms, each time a new letter was painted in or over.

The “Brat wall” brought together Charli XCX’s fans, in person and electronically, to make predictions and garner excitement for the album and following announcements.

It was widely successful, as of July 9, the “Brat” campaign accrued 22.5 million dollars in media impact value according to Vogue.

Two weeks after the end of the “brat wall,” President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race.

His announcement accompanied an endorsement for Vice President Harris. She thanked Biden and expressed her plans for the future via a statement on X.

“I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination,” Harris said.

Biden’s announcement came after weeks of calls for him to drop out due to his age. Since Harris’ campaign began, her popularity among young voters has been exponentially larger than Biden’s.

“A U.S. News/Generation Lab survey… shows Harris leading Trump by 30 points… among adults ages 18-34 in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Ohio,” The Hill writes.

This is not solely due to her age but instead her social media involvement.

In response to Biden’s endorsement for Harris, Charli XCX posted to X “kamala IS brat.” The post garnered attention from many, including Kamala HQ.

Kamala HQ (previously Biden-Harris HQ), the social media team for Harris, has become known for its encouragement of internet memes, especially of President Biden. Their accounts span across X, Instagram and TikTok.

Their popularity increased when they rebranded their X page to “Kamala HQ” and themed it to the “Brat” aesthetic. Their header became bright green with black arial font saying “Kamala HQ.”

“IM WHEEZING” X user @mustbelovehoran said after the rebrand.

Kamala HQ’s rebrand has gained over one million followers on X alone.

In addition to its X account, Kamala HQ has developed its following on TikTok. The team frequently posts videos using trending audios and ideas, gaining over one million views on most TikToks.

The videos range from digs at Harris’ opponent Donald Trump to positive clips of Harris and her vice presidential pick, Tim Walz.

In a Pew Research study, it was revealed that almost half of all TikTok users ages 18-29 use TikTok to gain political information.

It is clear from the Harris campaign’s encouragement of memes and other jokes related to the Democratic nominee that they are trying to appeal to younger voters.

After Gen-Z’s turnout in the 2020 election, it is likely they will continue to play a large role in this election.

“NBC exit polls suggest that 65% of those between the ages of 18 and 24 voted for Biden — 11% more than any other age group,” CNBC reported. “And in states like Georgia and Pennsylvania, young voters proved to be key to Biden’s success.”

“Brat” is not the only pop-culture reference Harris has used. At a rally in battleground state Georgia, Harris played Kendrick Lamar’s diss-track “Not Like Us.” A clip of a young boy passionately singing at the rally went viral.

After Taylor Swift endorsed Harris in an Instagram post on Sept. 10, Harris walked out of her post-debate speech to Swift’s song “The Man.”

Harris’ unprecedented use of social media may win her the presidency, and her attempt at appealing to younger voters could lead to a new era of campaigning in coming elections.