"Brain Rot" Content Is Now a $2B Industry — And Advertisers Are Finally Paying Attention

The term "brain rot" was originally used pejoratively — a way to describe the feeling of having spent too long consuming meaningless, absurdist internet content. It's now a genre, a business model, and a $2 billion industry.

Brain rot content — characterized by nonsensical humor, deliberately low production quality, and surreal or disconnected narrative — has exploded from a niche irony into mainstream monetization. The 50 highest-earning brain rot creators collectively made an estimated $180 million in 2025, up from $12 million in 2023.

The Advertiser Awakening

For years, brands avoided the category entirely, fearing brand safety risks from association with chaotic, context-free content. That's changing. Early adopters like Duolingo, Wendy's, and several energy drink brands discovered that leaning into brain rot aesthetics generated engagement rates 4-8x higher than standard branded content, with comment sections significantly more positive.