Brain Rot Influencing the Ballot Box?: How Political Parties Targeted Young Voters in the Recent Election

If your social media feed is anything like ours, you’ve probably spotted a few wacky videos from Australian political parties that made you do a double-take at the account handle. 

Gone are the days of press releases and dry interviews - political marketing now thrives on TikTok, packed with flashing graphics, memes, and Gen Z slang. 

In the recent election, parties leaned hard into viral trends like Italian AI brain rot videos, Minecraft parodies, and popular movie audios to grab young voters’ attention.

A reel inspired by the Italian AI brain rot trend from the official Labor Instagram page, (Credit: Australian Labor Party)

‘Brain rot’ describes the constant stream of chaotic, low-effort, high-volume online content. The term suggests that when your brain gets used to fast, chaotic content, anything slower or more nuanced starts to feel boring. 

Your brain is figuratively shrivelling and deteriorating.

From opposition leaders fighting squids, to skeletons engulfed in flames when filling up their petrol, brain rot was a constant presence throughout the recent federal election campaign.

Over the past few years, political parties have begun to engage more with social media.

During the most recent U.S. election, presidential candidate Kamala Harris tapped into youth internet culture when she posted about the "brat summer" trend, and went viral with her "fell out of a coconut tree" audio.

In September 2024, Senator Fatima Payman delivered a fiery parliamentary speech urging Labor to talk less and take more action. It stood out as one of the first times a politician used Gen Z and Gen Alpha slang in Australian Parliament, telling the chamber: “to the sigmas of Australia, I say that the government has been capping”.

The morning after Treasurer Jim Chalmers delivered the federal budget in March, Prime Minister Albanese followed suit with the slang, throwing shade at the Coalition, calling them “delulu with no solulu” - delusional with no solution.

So, why did parties decide to dive full force into youth culture this past election?

Ultimately, they are trying to appeal to the younger generations who may not be super politically engaged. 

Instead of explaining complex policies that Gen Z’ers are likely to scroll past, parties have been “meme-ing” their way to likability.

People are also more likely to share funny content with friends, which increases the likelihood that the party’s other posts will pop up in their feed and will be prioritised by the algorithm.

The 2024 Digital News Report by the University of Canberra found that 60% of Gen Z rely on social media as their main news source, and 20% of people under 35 use social media as their sole source of news. 

This, paired with the evident decline in traditional news media, suggests it’s increasingly important for parties to be online to get younger votes. 

Additionally, at this year's federal election, Gen Z and millennial voters outnumbered baby boomers for the first time, making the ability to appeal to younger voters a key factor in shaping the outcome for each party. 

But what do young people actually think of this style of political advertising?

When talking to Gen Z’ers, opinions are split. Some love the content and find it hilarious, while others are cringed out. 

Clever and well-timed content, such as Labor's Minecraft “Lava Chicken”, was generally well received. But the Liberal party’s random diss track had the opposite of its intended effect. The song ended up pushing audiences away, who said it felt awkward and out of touch. 

Cultural relevance is crucial, so parties need to conduct thorough research and feedback before publishing.

Bennett Davy, content creator for Labor Senator Jana Stewart, doesn’t think political brain rot ads serve much purpose. 

“They kind of remind me of the cool mum trying to relate to the kids. But ultimately we know how that turns out, not very well,” he said. 

“Politics is something so serious and something people should give a f**k about but this reduces it to nothing that important.”

Melbourne University student Nathan Tarrant agrees.

“They felt too forced to work properly. It’s similar to when corporations use memes, it just makes them seem cringe.” 

“I mean, some people probably enjoy them, but I also think it makes our generation seem really unserious about politics when that’s not necessarily the case,” he said.

On the other hand, RMIT student Ollie Delaney “freakin loved them”.

“They were so goofy! It showed they were down to earth, had a sense of humour and didn’t take themselves too seriously.” 

Whether youngsters pressed like or flicked past with disgust, publishing this content shows that political parties care about impressing the younger generations. This effort gives young people a bit of an ego boost and makes them feel valued - something parties are clearly hoping will translate into votes.

This election, we saw politicians try to connect with younger audiences in other ways, too. 

Both former Greens leader Adam Bandt and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese were guests on media personality Abbie Chatfield’s 'It’s a lot' podcast. 

With over 550,000 Instagram followers, most of them young women, Chatfield’s podcast was an obvious strategic choice for politicians looking to engage with that key demographic. 

After all, it’s essentially a two-hour ad with guaranteed reach - and compared to a pricey TV commercial, it’s a no-brainer.

Chatfield, however, faced criticism and abuse for promoting her political views, being dismissed as too unserious and “girly” because of her podcast’s focus on pop culture. 

On ABC’s Gruen Nation, advertising expert Todd Sampson retorted, saying that “just because Abbie sells butt plugs or whatever, doesn’t mean she can’t sell political ideas. Would you rather be grilled by Sarah Ferguson or hugged by Abbie Chatfield?”

We also saw Greens Senator Nick McKim embrace gaming culture by streaming Fortnite on Twitch, using the platform to connect directly with younger voters in a relaxed and interactive way. 

Meanwhile, Adam Bandt was seen behind a DJ deck, mixing music and activism to create a more approachable and fun persona.

While it’s hard to determine whether this tactic of advertising had a major impact on the results of the election, we’ll likely be seeing a lot more of it in the future.  

Hear more about this topic in our podcast episode “Brainrot in Politics: How are parties targetting young voters?” on The Swanston Explainer Spotify page.