A new TikTok trend has teens walking up to strangers with folders full of weird internet memes, and one elderly woman’s reaction has become the best part of the whole thing. The trend, called “showing brainrot to strangers,” has people printing out strange images from online culture and showing them to random people in public while recording their reactions.
The trend usually targets people who don’t spend much time online, like elderly shoppers in grocery stores and clothing shops. People taking part put together folders full of images that only make sense to those who live on the internet, like characters such as John Pork, FreakBob, and things related to Skibidi Toilet. The videos then get posted to TikTok, usually with the Silent Hill song Never Forgive Me, Never Forget Me by Akira Yamaoka playing in the background.
In one TikTok video that has gotten a lot of attention, TikTok user @jaxdomm walked up to an elderly woman shopping in a grocery store. As the woman looked through the folder of weird memes, she stayed polite and kept saying “Oh my goodness, very good!” even though she clearly had no idea what she was looking at. People in the comments praised how she handled it, with one person writing “Bro leave her alone” while others loved her response to the awkward moment. One comment said “Granny has great survival instincts,” while another wrote “She spamming the same emote.”
What makes this trend popular among Gen Alpha creators
The trend started in early 2024 with TikTok user @oprahcam5 and really took off through @jaxdomm, who has over 140,000 followers and calls himself a “Brainrot Bandit.” The videos regularly get millions of views, with @jaxdomm’s videos alone hitting over 1.29 million views on single posts. The trend shows what happens when online culture meets the real world, creating moments that are sometimes uncomfortable but often sweet. Like many viral TikTok trends, this one has caught the attention of millions who enjoy watching people react to internet culture in real time.
While many strangers react with confusion and just play along to be nice, some actually enjoy the memes. Videos show groups in the United Arab Emirates and workers at a UK Greggs store laughing and getting their friends involved in the fun. Another great moment showed an elderly woman who misread a meme as “Anthony” before saying “They all look like aliens to me!” She finished by saying “Thank you, that was fun,” and people watching loved her positive attitude.
According to Know Your Meme, the trend tries to confuse people but often creates nice moments that bring people together. The whole thing keeps growing, with creators now going beyond folders to put memes in other unexpected places. Even though some people criticize it for using strangers as content, the trend has stayed popular throughout 2025, showing how internet culture is mixing more and more with everyday life. For anyone wondering what Skibidi Toilet actually is, it’s a YouTube series that has become one of Generation Alpha’s biggest pieces of internet culture.
