Italian Brainrot - What Parents Really Need to Know

Kirra Pendergast
May 5
6 min read

The viral nonsense your child is quoting at dinner? It didn’t come out of nowhere and it’s not harmless.

If you’ve recently heard your child chanting things like “Ballerina Cappuccina” or “Tralalero Tralala” in a cartoonish Italian accent and wondered what on earth is going on, you’re not imagining things. You’re witnessing the latest digital fever dream: Italian Brainrot a chaotic fusion of AI-generated imagery, surreal humour and problematic content, swallowed whole by TikTok and spat straight into playgrounds, classrooms and group chats. And despite how random it might seem on the surface, this is not just silliness.

One of the most dangerous elements of this trend is how it hides behind absurdity. Creators and sharers shrug it off with, “It’s just a meme” or “It’s satire” but irony is a well-used shield for hate. Known as the “irony shield”, this tactic allows offensive views to spread while dodging responsibility. Say something outrageous, laugh it off, then shame anyone who takes it seriously.

This trick isn’t new. It’s been used for years by online hate groups, especially in misogynistic and racist corners of the internet. The goal? To desensitise people especially young people to harmful language and to normalise bigotry through repetition and humour. And because most of these memes rely on stripped-down, remixed audio and images, many kids don’t even realise they’re echoing slurs, hate speech or extremist propaganda disguised as a joke.

We also need to recognise how fast this is moving. Italian Brainrot is a prime example of how quickly content can be manipulated and amplified using AI tools like image generators and text-to-speech software. This format thrives on hyper-short content loops, which many researchers say are already chipping away at our ability to concentrate or engage deeply with media.

There is no better time to pause. Visit a local library. Encourage your child to dig into something they’re passionate about. Whether it’s art, music, sport or simply a tech-free afternoon. And if you haven’t already, take a fresh look at your family’s tech rules. It’s not about cutting them off from their world it’s about helping them navigate it with more awareness, more balance, and more power over what they choose to engage with.

So, what exactly is Italian Brainrot?

Italian Brainrot is the name given to a viral meme trend that started on TikTok in early 2025. At its core, it involves AI-generated cartoon characters with exaggerated Italian names and over-the-top voiceovers in synthetic Italian accents. These characters like a shark in Nike trainers or a cappuccino-cup ballerina are surreal, absurd, and visually striking. But it’s not the visuals that are raising concern. It’s the audio.

What looks like quirky nonsense is, in many cases, rooted in content that’s explicitly violent, bigoted or obscene. And once this content is clipped, remixed, and stripped of context, it gets passed around in classrooms as a joke no one fully understands but everyone keeps repeating.

The very first viral Brainrot post was a TikTok featuring an AI shark named Tralalero Tralala but the audio track behind it wasn’t just quirky gibberish. The original voiceover included graphic profanity and blasphemy, mocking religious figures and casually using violent and misogynistic slurs. The audio was quickly cut down to just “Tralalero Tralala” a phrase taken from a Northern Italian folk song removing the offensive content but keeping its strange, catchy tone. Most young users have no idea where it came from. But it’s still spreading.

Worse still is the case of Bombardiro Crocodilo a crocodile-plane hybrid character with a background track that directly references bombing children in Gaza, mocking religion, and using graphic language designed to offend. Again, this audio has been edited and remixed to remove explicit content but the damage is already done. The roots of the meme are still buried in language that is Islamophobic, dehumanising, and disturbing.

The hashtags #italianbrainrot and #italianbrainrotanimals have gone viral globally and are even sparking new spin-off trends, such as content creators conducting random street interviews to determine the fan favourites among these characters. Fan-made online encyclopedias, are constantly being updated to include all the brainrot characters as well as all of the related backstories/relationships between them.

Major global brands have adopted some of the Italian Brainrot characters or trending audio to use on their platforms, such as Atletico Madrid, Ryan Air and Loewe. Even the Australian Labour Party (one of the two major political parties in Australia) referenced these memes in their recent pre-election campaigns!

Given that this phenomenon has now trickled down from the depths of the internet to the mainstream, it is no surprise that teachers are hearing this constantly in the classroom. Teachers are reporting that students are yelling out brainrot catchphrases mid-lesson.

Meet the Characters (and Their Problems)

Name	Description	Why It Matters
Tralalero Tralala	Three-legged shark in Nike shoes.	Originated in audio with graphic blasphemy.
Bombardiro Crocodilo	Crocodile/plane hybrid.	Original voiceover makes jokes about bombing Gaza.
Ballerina Cappuccina	Ballerina with a cappuccino cup head.	Harmless, but part of a trend with darker roots.
Tung Tung Tung Sahur	Wooden figure with a bat.	Appropriates a sacred Islamic tradition for laughs.
Cappuccino Assassino	Cappuccino samurai warrior.	Absurdist, but contributes to trend normalising violence.

These are just a few examples. The Italian Brainrot universe is growing fast, and many of these characters are now being used in parody battles, relationship storylines, and even fictionalised “families” online. Think of it like a chaotic digital soap opera powered by AI and teenage absurdism—but with real-world consequences.

Why It’s Spreading So Fast

It’s AI-powered: Anyone can generate these characters using free tools. The barrier to entry is low.
It’s “in-joke” culture: Kids feel like they’re part of a secret club when they understand the references.
It’s fast: These memes are designed to spread quickly, mutate, and outpace adult understanding.
It’s emotionally detached: Kids are often engaging with this stuff because it feels far away from real life, not realising it often is real life for someone.

What Can Parents Do?

You can’t stop the internet, and banning a phrase rarely works. But you can help your child become more thoughtful about what they’re watching and repeating. For younger kids, it starts with a simple conversation. You might say:

“Sometimes the funny things people say online like ‘Ballerina Cappuccina’ or ‘Tralalero Tralala’ come from videos that were actually really mean before they got turned into jokes. Some people think if you laugh at something, it doesn’t matter. But it does. It matters who might feel hurt by it.”

Let them know:

They don’t need to stop watching funny stuff.
But they do need to be smart about it.

You can encourage questions like:

Where did this come from?
Is it kind?
Would I still laugh if I knew the whole story?

That’s how kids learn, not by shutting things down, but by thinking more deeply about what they see and share.

Here’s how to start if they are a little older:

Ask where it came from - Encourage your child to look up the original audio or meme they’re quoting. What was cut out? Why?
Unpack the meaning - Do they know what the words mean? Who might be offended by them? Is this a joke they would still feel comfortable making if it might upset their grandma?
Challenge the “it’s just a meme” line - Help them understand that humour isn’t neutral. It can punch up or punch down. It can include or exclude.
Talk about language drift - Words like “sigma” or “NPC” didn’t start in kids’ spaces. They came from darker corners of the internet. Just because they’re popular doesn’t mean they’re harmless.
Point out the irony shield - Teach your child to recognise when someone’s using “it’s satire” as a way to say something cruel without facing consequences.
Rebalance tech culture - These memes aren’t just silly they’re energy-intensive. AI tools use huge amounts of electricity and water. Kids might not care now, but they should know. It’s not about guilt—it’s about awareness.

Bigger Picture....Why It Matters

Italian Brainrot is not a one-off. It’s part of a much larger cultural shift. Memes now travel faster than context. Young people are growing up in an environment where absurdity often replaces meaning, and where deepfake culture blurs the line between imagination and ideology.

We cannot afford to ignore this.

This isn’t about censorship. It’s about literacy. Digital literacy. Media literacy. Cultural literacy. The ability to recognise when you’re being manipulated, mocked, or marketed to under the guise of fun.

The question is not “Is your child watching Italian Brainrot?” The question is: How are they making sense of it?

Meet Them Where They Are

The truth is, young people love surrealism, absurdism, and inside jokes. That’s fine. That’s normal. And it’s not going away.

But when the joke has a harmful core when the “funny meme” comes from a place of violence, racism, or misogyny it’s our job as adults to help them peel back the layers.

Ask questions. Share your own media experiences. Invite them to create something original, not just remix something questionable. Remind them that what you repost is what you represent whether you meant it that way or not. Let’s raise kids who aren’t just fluent in memes, but fluent in meaning.