The Memes of 2025
Sharks in sneakers and the numbers 6 and 7
Short Video and Brainrot, 2021–2026
A universe of AI-generated creatures with mock-Italian names filled the first half of the year, and in March a new image tool turned the whole Internet into watercolours. TikTok briefly went offline in the United States on 18 January before being restored.
By the autumn, a pair of numerals with no meaning had been chanted in classrooms and arenas, and Dictionary.com named “67” its word of the year.
Top memes of 2025
3 memes in the archive peaked this year, and 3 first went viral.
1Ghibli AI Trend
13/100−3%Falling2025Peaked in 2025
2Italian Brainrot
68/100−2%Hot2025Peaked in 2025
3Six Seven
74/100+5%Hot2024Peaked in 2025
2025, month by month
The leading memes of the year on one scale, 0 to 100. The yellow dot marks each one’s highest month.
Ghibli AI Trend
Ghibli AI Trend: Feb 0, Mar 90, Apr 52, May 31, Jun 22, Jul 18, Aug 17, Sep 15, Oct 15, Nov 15, Dec 14 Italian Brainrot
Italian Brainrot: Jan 18, Feb 44, Mar 64, Apr 74, May 86, Jun 86, Jul 81, Aug 74, Sep 74, Oct 73, Nov 75, Dec 71 Six Seven
Six Seven: Jan 4, Feb 6, Mar 10, Apr 16, May 29, Jun 38, Jul 49, Aug 59, Sep 70, Oct 83, Nov 81, Dec 82 Doge
Doge: Jan 50, Feb 53, Mar 53, Apr 53, May 52, Jun 55, Jul 55, Aug 54, Sep 56, Oct 58, Nov 55, Dec 61 Wojak
Wojak: Jan 55, Feb 54, Mar 57, Apr 53, May 52, Jun 55, Jul 56, Aug 58, Sep 52, Oct 57, Nov 58, Dec 54 Stonks
Stonks: Jan 48, Feb 47, Mar 46, Apr 51, May 49, Jun 49, Jul 48, Aug 50, Sep 52, Oct 49, Nov 50, Dec 55
Attention index, 0 to 100 on one scale for the whole archive. Estimated from each meme’s key dates, not measured.
Timeline
Dated moments from the memes above, in order.
A shark in sneakers. A TikTok account posts the first Tralalero Tralala video.
Seven million views. A video of a shark in shoes reaches seven million views.
Tung Tung Tung Sahur. A new character from Indonesia joins the universe.
Videos and edits. Videos set to the song begin to spread on social media.
Redraw this photo. Users ask it to redraw photos and memes in a Ghibli style.
A feed of soft watercolours. The images spread across X, Instagram and Reddit.
The argument. Artists object and an old Miyazaki interview resurfaces.
A new image generator. OpenAI releases image generation in ChatGPT.
Saturation. The style becomes common enough to lose its novelty.
The peak. New characters arrive daily and the style spreads across platforms.
New seasons. Seasons two and three bring smaller waves of memes in December 2024 and June 2025.
Still daily. A steady, smaller audience continues to play.
Classrooms and courts. Players and students begin to say the numerals, with a hand gesture.
A first birthday. More than 12,000 fans celebrate her first birthday.
Merchandise and parody. Brands, games and merchandise use the characters as the trend matures.
A settled reference. Used as a calm, shrugging reaction.
Word of the year. Dictionary.com names “67” its word of the year.
A period piece. Remembered as a clear example of how fast a catchphrase can be absorbed by marketing.
A reference point. Cited in debates about AI and artistic style.
What kind of memes
Categories across the memes active in 2025.